Chef Michael Cimarusti has been credited with elevating the standard of modern American seafood restaurants. At Connie & Ted’s, an East-Coast seafood “shack” in the heart of West Hollywood, he presents award-winning seafood in a fun, casual setting. The restaurant is rooted in memory — for Cimarusti it is a tribute to summers spent with his grandparents, Connie and Ted, along the Rhode Island seashore. For patrons, it is the quintessentially American summer memory, being barefoot by the sea, eating lobster rolls, clam chowder, or raw oysters.

The project began as a minor renovation to an existing restaurant, yet structural issues required demolition and afforded (fer) studio the opportunity to create the now-iconic building from the ground up.

Dinner at the shore is about being outdoors. For Connie and Ted’s, (fer)studio created a unique indoor/outdoor experience in the entire space by the dramatically arching roof sailing above the outdoor dining patio, the curved glass facade, and the soaring cathedral-like central space. Cues from iconic New England-style fishing culture are evident from the tables to flooring, custom cabinetry, and wall panels. Fine joinery and nautical finishes (inspired by the famed Chris-Craft runabouts) are juxtaposed against the weather-worn surfaces of boat docks and aged siding. Against the modernity of the environment, the branding by Memo mines our collective memory – be it the vernacular language of handmade seafood shack graphics, red-sauce Italian seafood restaurants, or the casual, family-run restaurants that define our seaside experiences.