A Museum Inside a Restaurant

Designed for the interior of the historic Farmers and Merchants Bank (1905) at 4th and Main in Downtown LA, this restaurant contains a museum nested within. A gallery from the adjacent Main Museum of Los Angeles Art penetrates the perimeter wall at mezzanine level, creating an unexpected visual connection between the quiet cultural realm above and the lively restaurant atmosphere below. Spearheaded by renowned restauranteur Bill Chait, the Farmers and Merchants restaurant is intended to serve both the museum and the downtown community. It also includes a ground-floor bakery with fine dining, an upper balcony cocktail lounge, and a basement whiskey bar within a historic bank vault.

Location: Los Angeles, California
Floor Area: 22,000 SF
Program: Adaptive Re-use Restaurant
Client: Bill Chait
Cost Advising: Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction