This week’s episode begins with a memorable evening in January 2012 at the M.B. Post restaurant in Manhattan Beach, California. From the inviting and familiar atmosphere of the former post office, to the food by Michelin-starred chef David LeFevre, to the playfully rustic decor… the experience was so meaningful to our host, Ryan Bloom, that he kept his menu as a souvenir of this evening. Fast-forward 9 years, and Ryan welcomes the architect behind this unforgettable space, Stephen Francis Jones, on The Fireside Chat™ podcast.
As in-house architect for the Wolfgang Puck Food Company, Stephen Francis Jones established one of Southern California’s most iconic brands. When he founded his own firm, SFJones Architects in 1996, Puck immediately hired Jones to help develop the fine dining experience at Spago Beverly Hills. This project led Jones to designing Wolfgang Puck restaurants worldwide—and, most recently, the renovation of the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland, site of the Academy Awards’ Governors Ball. Among his best-known projects is Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood. Working with CEO Steven Foster, Jones created a wildly popular hipster hybrid—restaurant, bar and bowling alley—that resulted in a flurry of spin-off projects.
In his conversation with Ryan Bloom, Stephen Francis Jones shares memories of his youth spent in Bogota, Columbia, and his travels through Europe before completing his Master’s degree in Architecture at UCLA. This immersion in urban European life shaped his fresh perspective on what makes a social space a memorable experience. Ryan and Stephen exchange on what it means to create inviting settings, and how restaurants are one of the great connectors of our world. Stephen ends with his thoughts on how Covid will shake out the restaurant industry for the better, transforming dining spaces into communal and outdoor spaces for authentic and meaningful experiences.
The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.
SFJones Architects – https://sfjones.com/
M.B. Post Project: https://sfjones.com/mb-post/bsg6cb2j978qm1x3zp86xx7rd0obbu
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