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| Back patio at Mohawk Bend |
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If you've been out in Hollywood in the
last couple of years, then you’ve probably been inside a building remade by
Spacecraft. Founded by Kristofer
Keith, the design/build firm is responsible for Hollywood spots like The
Bowery, Kitchen 24, Stout and Boho, which recently moved to the third floor of
Hollywood & Highland.
Excerpted from the September Los Feliz Ledger:
In August, Keith’s latest and
most ambitious project opened: the 10,000 square foot Mohawk Bend in Echo Park.
Owned by Los Feliz’s Tony Yanow and his wife Amy, the already wildly popular
gastro pub features a crowd-pleasing menu with savory vegan and vegetarian
specialties, and a changing selection of artisan cocktails from California
spirits, craft beer--72 kinds--and wine on tap.
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| I beams frame Mohawk Bends' interior |
Mohawk Bend now occupies a
100-year old brick building that once was the Estudio Theater—longtime locals
may recall how it sat empty and decaying for 26 years. To use the building and
meet current building codes, Keith essentially built a building within the vast
space. The exposed steel I beams
framing the interior are not only a design element but meet a structural
requirement.
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| Vintage beer signs at Mohawk Bend |
Although there are retro
touches, Yanow’s personal collection of vintage beer signs for instance, Keith
purposefully avoided a fake nostalgic look. “I didn’t want something too slick
either,” he explains. “So I went for something down the middle, an industrial
but stylized direction,” he notes.
Custom built seating is made from plywood (also exposed); upholstery has
a mid-century orange hue. The floors are concrete and the kitchen is open to
view from the long polished concrete bar cast on site.
Dividing the back third of
the vast room from the main bar and dining area is a 20’ high mosaic glass
wall. The patterned glass wall also defines Mohawk Bend’s interior patio, lit
by skylights and a concrete fireplace. The room’s exposed brick walls help
create an urban, citified vibe. As Keith explains, he wanted the space to
recall restaurants he’s visited in New York and Toronto that have taken over
and enclosed a back alley.
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| Naya will emerge from Tantra space |
Among Keith’s other
commissions is an ongoing transformation of Tantra restaurant, also on Sunset
Boulevard. To be renamed
Naya, Keith is reconfiguring the
Indian restaurant, creating an all white dining room and an adjacent lounge in
regal colors. There will also be a back patio for dining. As with all his projects, he stays away
from theme-y type designs or a signature personal style that doesn’t
necessarily translate to every assignment. “I like to create a sense of place,” he confirms.
Mohawk Bend
2141 W. Sunset Blvd.
213/483-2337
