BASIL & CHIVES RESTAURANT, 2008
MONROE, WASHINGTON
MARK R. BLUBAUGH, ARCHITECT

Basil & Chives is the first high-end, white tablecloth restaurant in a traditional industrial town near Seattle. The owners are Vietnamese and feature the elegant, French-inspired side of Vietnamese cooking not widely known to Americans. The building was a closed Eagles lodge which needed a major transformation to provide a suitable environment for a high-end restaurant. The design includes an efficient, compact commercial kitchen layout, a separate scullery, a completely new women’s restroom, reservation of the rear of the building for banquet use, and opening up the front of the building to the street.

Major Considerations: The design needed to be as cost-effective as possible. The design kept the kitchen compact and worked around an existing walk-in refrigerator. The front of the building was closed-off from the street, and bars typically are. For a restaurant it was important to open the front to the street. The design strategically added large, residential frame windows while strengthening the remaining wall areas to ensure the building would remain sound in a major earthquake. The design includes energy-efficient lighting and high-efficiency glazing in the windows for energy savings.