At About Last Knife, Workshop/APD Gives Chicago a New Cutting-Edge Restaurant
When Workshop/APD founders Matt Berman and Andrew Kotchen were asked to help renovate one of Chicago’s most historic hotels, they jumped at the opportunity. “It’s exciting to have the chance to rehab a building with this much character,” says Berman. “We definitely wanted to be a part of the project.”
That project is About Last Knife, the restaurant in Hotel Julian, a 218-room property that opened in the heart of the Loop this fall. Originally constructed in 1912 by Chicago architect Benjamin Marshall, the Hotel's building served as an office for decades before being boarded up—until 2016, when a $75 million development restored the terra-cotta façade, updated modern design elements, and installed five new floors (to fulfill Marshall’s original plans for a 17-story building). The hotel’s steakhouse-meets-gastropub, About Last Knife, needed a design team all of its own—one with the experience in designing spaces that balance modern trends with timeless elements. Workshop/APD was the group for the gig, having already proven its chops at Chef Dale Talde’s Massoni and Talde in New York and Miami Beach, respectively. At About Last Knife, the restaurant’s home city was a major influence for the design from the outset. “We really like the industrial components of Chicago and wanted to capture the essence of that,” notes Berman. “We wanted to reveal the grit of the city.”
As a result, the team (helmed by lead designer Brook Quach) didn’t want the space to feel too new—even if it did open just months ago. The resulting worn-in look was accomplished through simple but effective touches throughout the space, including concrete flooring with a perfectly distressed patina, midcentury French chandeliers, a Silestone quartz bar top, and floor-to-ceiling doors with mesh screening. There’s also the 106-year-old brickwork from the original building. “We really wanted to embrace the building’s imperfections,” says Berman, who notes the only finishes those bricks saw was a light limewash for tone.
They make up the entire south wall of the restaurant, in addition to serving as the canvas for one particularly striking focal point—a mural of Marshall himself, the architect responsible for some of the city’s most notable turn-of-the-century buildings—the restaurant’s home being no exception. “We wanted to create an opportunity for curiosity and prompt diners to ask a question,” says Berman, who also notes the mural’s other role: “It serves as a tribute to him—it’s a way of looking back from where we’ve come while also moving forward.”
The mural was painted directly onto the brick—a technique used in the main entryway as well, where a stucco wall of social media hashtags greets guests. Next to it, a knife-throwing wheel hangs with its own collection of cutlery, serving as a playful nod to the restaurant’s name. It’s an approach more subtly showcased throughout About Last Knife in another format too: diagonals.
“In keeping with the restaurant’s name, we wanted to bring guests back to this idea of cutting through something—like steak,” says Berman, who references examples in the herringbone marble bar, diagonal reveals behind the reception desk, and diagonally shaped shelving that separates the lobby from the bar. “We’re used to seeing bookshelves that go straight up and down, but this way it suddenly becomes something you want to go up to and inspect.”
That spark of curiosity is a hope the team has for guests throughout the space, especially when coupled with the property’s prized location and longstanding history—two distinguishing factors that have set it apart from other design projects in their portfolio. “This building was boarded up for a while, and there was much work to be done before we could get started,” notes Berman. “A project like that is particularly special—you really feel like you’re breathing new life into something.”
More from AD PRO: Has Instagram Made Design Shows Better?
Sign up for the AD PRO newsletter for all the design news you need to know
