The Doc B’s Fresh Kitchen in Fort Lauderdale project marries the company’s “focus on fresh, house-made and mindfully sourced dishes”, with a classic, timeless approach to design elaborated in modern vocabulary. The result is an experience that evokes a graceful mid-century nostalgia and its associations of home, a sense of belonging and community.

The structure is like an open shell with seamless communication between the indoor and outdoor spaces.  The indoor spaces, which have a total capacity of 150 seats, feature a bar and a dining room, framed by an open kitchen. The entire indoor spaces is surrounded by glass windows on three sides and give way to an outdoor terrace with capacity for an additional 80 people. 

The continuity of the three spaces and the overall mood of the restaurant are reinforced by the choice of materials and their form and distribution. Classically elegant white Carrara marble horizontally frames the open kitchen and is also used a vertical line and as a plane surface, creating an enveloping experience. The contrasting warm, walnut wood used here for the seating elements, also comprises the ceiling plane that extends from the interior to the exterior spaces. 

While the walnut ceiling is primarily a continuous surface, it also allows for a visual activation of the bar as the material divides into shapes that resemble trellises on the south Florida beaches. The “trellises” also have functional purposes: the apparent ambiguity of the walnut forms allow for better acoustics and space to house the 5’ x 7’ light drums that cast warm light and accentuate the bar from the terrace view.  

From the concept of the seamless flow of the interrelated spaces to the details that choreograph movement between them and finally, the specific material choices, DMAC’s design for Doc B’s Fort Lauderdale is an evocative atmosphere perfectly paired with the culinary experience at Doc B’s. Together, the design and the menu satisfy a longing to reinvent the more perfect pleasures of a time that privileged a great atmosphere in which to share excellent food and good company.