My Design Life: Hospitality Design Expo 2012, Las Vegas

Can't wait to see all that HD Expo has to offer this year!! Definitely ready for some new inspiration from the newest and most innovative products&services.  Anyone in the design industry going?

www.hdexpo.com

Palm Springs Getaway: Inspirational Design + Architecture

This past long weekend, I got to getaway from the busy world of work + my social life for 2 days & 1 night. Palm Springs is the best place to go for some relaxation and quality time. I needed to rejuvenate and get some design inspiration flowing.

It is currently Modernism Week in Palm Springs. Unfortunately, I did not get attend the festivities, but if you are in Palm Springs this week/weekend definitely plan on stopping by some of the events. Check it out: http://www.modernismweek.com/

I stayed at ACE Hotel & Swim Club and gallivanted around some of Palm Springs' hotel gems. ACE is definitely a hip hotel to stay at if you are in your 20s & 30s, music playing all day at the pool and more music at night. If you are looking for peace and quiet this is not the place you want to stay at.

Here are some of the many photos that I took of my hotel adventures. Great design, so many details that I love in each hotel, but too many to write about. Enjoy the photos.

Cucina Enoteca Opens: Good Eats + Interior Design

Cucina Enoteca finally opened at the Irvine Spectrum Shops. I have been waiting for this restaurant to open since I loved Cucina Urbana in San Diego. They share the same design + menu with a few defining elements. I encourage everyone to check this amazing restaurant out if you are ever in Orange County.  

I love the interior design. When you can't stop turning your head finding new interesting things to look at, you know the designer accomplished something unique and wonderful. The owner, Tracy Borkum, is the visionary behind the restaurant; she created the menu, the interior design, the service, etc.. 

Here are a couple iPhone photos from my dinner last night:

My Design Life - Dripp Grand Opening

Photo Courtesy of latimesblogs.latimes.com

I am happy to share with you that the Grand Opening of Dripp Steam & Cream Cafe, Chino Hills, CA is tomorrow, Thursday November 17, 2011. So go check out Davis Ink's design and indulge in Dripp's yummy products. I am excited to see my design come to life!

Can't wait to go there, myself, and photograph my experience!

San Diego: Interiors - Craft&Commerce

I got to finally see Craft&Commerce in person! My boss and I came here for a late lunch after our client meeting in San Diego. We quickly fell in love with the place, not only did the design evoke a warm comfy feeling, but the details of the place were remarkable. To name a few, the reclaimed wooden tables with industrial u-channels framing it, crackled/broken mirror behind book shelving, use of text/words...I can go on and on about this place. Thank goodness for the iPhone 4S, I got to take some quality photos.

Since we arrived around 3, their menu was in between lunch and dinner, so we settled for some appetizers. I got the Mini Corn Dogs + Sweet potato fries. Good comfort food when I am starving. I am definitely coming back to try their dinner menu + cocktails.

I love San Diego's interiors and food culture... it is growing and I am happy to be a part of the new developments soon to open. 

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Love these chairs by Unodot. Can't wait for the perfect project to come along so we can utilize these funky fantastic Eco-friendly chairs!! Definitely would be cool in a cafe, burger joint, or a unique restaurant.

San Diego - Interiors + Good Eats

After a weekend getaway in San Diego for a friend's birthday, my tummy and desire for design inspiration are quite satisfied. I've been on a food overload ever since we got back, definitely in need of some kind of detox.

Cucina Urbana.

I've been wanting to try Cucina Urbana ever since I discovered it while going through design magazines for project research. If you follow my tumblr, designvibe, then you probably already have seen some photos of the interior. Although the photos I've posted on my tumblr are pretty accurate of the interior, they don't totally capture the beauty of physically experiencing the space. For one thing the space was way bigger than I imagined, as you will see in my own photographs of the interior. Cucina Urbana is a modern day Italian restaurant with lots and lots of great textures and details. Details + Details + Details !!!! 

What makes this place even more attractive is the food is just as inspirational as the interior. The interior is modern mixed with traditional elements and so is the cuisine!! They describe Cucina Urbana's food as Italian Classics with a modern twist.  

I ordered the Short Rib Pappardelle Pasta with mushroom + parmigiano and the boyfriend got the Meatball Mozzarella di Bufala with spinach + fontina + parm. The Short Rib was so tender and the pasta was cooked to perfected al dente. This was my first time having pappardelle pasta and I loved it, I love thick flat noodles of any kind. Overall, the short rib was a tad bit too salty for my taste and I consider my self a salty eater, but the pappardelle's heaviness balanced the dish well.

Short Rib Pappardelle Pasta  / Meatball Mozzarella di Bufala Pizza

Searsucker.
I hear about this place all the time, especially since my boss knows the owners + chefs of this restaurant, since they are also our clients at Stingaree Nightclub & Guest House @ Stingaree. Searsucker's interior is modern + hip without being intimidating. It has an open floor plan with only columns as an architectural feature to create spaces within spaces. This restaurant definitely has some great design features, especially the lighting. I might be a little biased when saying that the interior as a whole didn't WOW me, but I've got loyalty to my boss and our design team!

Since I was there for a birthday dinner, we had a pretty big group and thankfully because of that, we got to sit at probably the coolest spot in the restaurant. The large country wooden table + various different traditional chairs + rope chandelier above our table was definitely one of their key design features.

The food was beyond my expectations. Me and the boyfriend shared a few dishes, I guess you can classify their dishes as "tapas" plates, big enough to share and small enough to get lots of different plates. We started with the Tuna +screaming rooster + ginger + tomato, marrow bone + sea salt + onion jam, and duck fat fries + tomato jam, all of which were amazing, I can't pick a favorite. The tuna was spicier than I had hoped for, hence the screaming rooster ingredient, but I loved it and I love raw tuna in any form. The marrow bone was, as usual, like butter in my mouth, but definitely could do with out the onion jam, it was too sweet for me. Duck fat fries had the perfect flavor + crunch to them and the tomato jam went very well with it. For our main entree, we got the Loin "filet mignon" with lobster butter + cognac, medium cooked. Oh my lord was this piece of meat so tender and juicy! It was cooked more on the medium rare side, but I didn't mind that at all.

Tuna / Marrow Bone / Duck Fat Fries
(Unfortunately, I was unable to take a photo of our main entree since the boyfriend was so eager to dig into it)

My Design Life - Dripp Steam & Cream Cafe

Dripp will be the second completed project of my Davis Ink Ltd. career. I am in love with this project because of its rawness + industrial elements and I am absolutely infatuated with reclaimed wood!

Dripp is located at the Shoppes of Chino Hills in Chino Hills, CA. Their product is very unique, if you've been to one of the Intelligentsia Coffee shops in Los Angeles, this place has similar attributes. They utilize a Japanese slow drip technique, where each cup is brewed one at a time, to order, using specialty-roasted, ground daily coffees and espressos from all over the world. And for those of you with a major sweet tooth, like me, they will have specialty made-to-order ice cream sandwiches.

I can't wait to see the finished design, but for now here are some teaser photos from my visit to the job site (taken with my Driod Phone).

Exterior View / Plans

Reused Gym Lockers for Product Display / Restroom walls minus penny round tiles

Reclaimed wood everywhere!!!! 

Beginnings of the stairs to the mezzanine & rope detail