A view of Today and Always Cafe
When the Crosstown cafe, Today & Always, opened in September, it unveiled a plant-based menu and lots of — how to say it? — lewk. I mean, lots. It’s ’50s and ’80s and everything.
Crosstown co-founder Chris Miner’s wife Amanda Sparks, with help from residency coordinator Mary Jo Karimnia and Stacy Wright, took charge of the design of this very large, winding space. Karimnia took some time to answer some questions about the design.
What was your thinking when you set out to design the Today & Always space?
It really began as a way to feed our resident artists delicious, nutritious, filling, and varied foods. Food is such a wonderful thing to build relationships around, and we hoped to encourage interaction and build relationships through food. Next, we wanted to invite the public into this nurturing environment. The cave-like atmosphere that the architect designed in the East Atrium feels like a great big hug — one that is big enough to include 500 of your friends. We anchored that warmth by adding variations that acknowledged the dark blue walls and aqua furniture and added interest by layering similar shades and hues. There are definitely some color themes forming, like the red/orange/pink areas in the hallway near the kitchen, the blue door and blue themes along the corresponding hallway to the right, the midcentury greens in the Green Room music space, etc. that will also be carried back into the deeper spaces of Crosstown Arts offices as that becomes cohesive.
What were the challenges with working in such an open space?
We want diners to feel like they are eating at Crosstown Arts — in our house, in the midst of all the things that are happening in this beautiful space. We also wanted it to be a flexible space that can host talks, shows, and events in an endless possibility of configurations. So the open space was something we needed for this formula.
[pullquote-1]
What about the odd shapes and spaces of the bar?
This was an opportunity to truly engage with the building, to embrace the history of the space. The maze-like quality of the space encourages people to explore and discover. The smaller spaces encourage small gatherings and intimate conversations.
Plates with starburst patterns
How would you describe the final product — diner chic?
Inviting, embracing, surprising, and ever-changing.
Where did you source the dishes,
furniture, etc.?
The dishes, glasses, and flatware are a combination of items that we designed and collected. We searched the internet for silverware with midcentury star designs, and this is the theme that holds them together. Residency Director Amanda Sparks had a strong hand in the design and in deciding, directing, and purchasing items. She took several trips to St. Louis to purchase midcentury furniture from antique stores and through online sales from people’s garages and basements. She brought back five packed truckloads. Her design vision can be seen throughout Crosstown Arts. Bart Mallard, the head bartender, hand-picked all of the wonderful and varied glasses used to serve drinks at the bar.
There is a lot going on with the cafe — the aprons, the song names. How does that work together under a coherent theme? What’s that theme?
EVERYTHING at Crosstown Arts is an art project. Spaces are infused with silly things, thoughtful jokes, and kitsch. The aprons with random names that were popular in the ’80s play with the menu where items are all puns on ’80s song titles. In the bar, drinks are thoughtfully engineered with unusual ingredients and combinations, and drink titles read like poems. The back bar is a surprising maze with colored lights and animal-themed rooms with a curated/curious mix of kitty-cat playing cards, paint-by-number dogs, and ceramic birds. There is also a white wall that will host a rotating show of art-designed wallpaper and the light-up bar top has already hosted two different art pieces beneath its acrylic surface. The food and drink are another way to allow for creative expression. The talents of chef Raymond Jackson and bar manager Bart Mallard are nicely showcased in these beautiful and unusual spaces.
Lounge with vintage furniture and paint-by-number paintings of dogs
There is so much going on in the spaces. Did you ever have a time when you thought to yourself, with a design or piece of furniture or glassware, Stop, that’s enough?
Absolutely. Much of Amanda Sparks’ vision has been arrived at through a process of elimination, finding a plethora of items that fit the era or theme of different aspects of the spaces and then paring these ideas and objects down to the right amount in the right space.
Glassware and bird ceramic
Another Art Bar lounge
