Restaurant BT – Art, Design, French Vietnamese Cuisine in a Brilliant Modern Concept
Cork covered wine list, menu on a single sheet of textured paper...and a dazzling green mum, the single pop of color amidst the glowing amber surroundings.
“I can’t believe I haven’t taken you to Restaurant BT yet!” said John. We recently made the quick trek to South Tampa for lunch on a beautiful sunny October day. You could say we are voracious foodies and locavores, hunting down the creative, the cheffy, the anti-chain, the sustainable, and the local. Rarely does one place smoothly cover every angle, with attention to each nuance. Ah, Restaurant BT, you’ve done it!
We arrived at the glass back door that connects the kitchen to the outdoor patio, thinking it was the entrance. A server popped out and instead of directing us around the building, he casually invited us into the kitchen and said “Oh, people can come through our kitchen any time!”
So we entered through the kitchen (how often does that happen?) and as soon as we sat down I began to take in the aesthetics of this place…
Warm, modern, natural, cohesive. Smooth bamboo tables and marbled tile floors. A single fresh and green chrysanthemum in a round glass vase on every table. Neutral cloth napkins draped over the edge at every seat.
Exquisite plating. Yet simple. How often do you get an orchid with a lunch appetizer? The calamari was absolutely zinging. The marinade it was dressed with had us eating the lettuce bed as well.
A design classic. The Louis Ghost Armchair (at Design Within Reach http://www.dwr.com), a modern re-invention of the Louis XV armchair, which begs you to appreciate the homage paid to the overall theme.
Comfortable elegance was evident everywhere…but sometimes ambiance take precedence over creative and quality cuisine and attentive service, diminishing the core competency to a disappointing facade. You know it’s happened one too many times, right?
Suspended cleverly along the front wall, multiple tiers of spices in glass bottles. What an awesome idea!
The reality: Using an “innovative and fresh mixture of organic ingredients, small farm meats and poultry, fresh caught seafood and local Florida produce”, BT’s dishes are grounded in a blend of Vietnamese and French cooking, seasoned by over 24 years of experience in the industry. Their moniker is EAT LOCAL, THINK GLOBAL, and on their website you find that they really do take this seriously. Recycling almost everything, including shredded office paper for the Humane Society and the used kitchen oil for making gasoline alternatives, they also use biodegradable containers, which honestly, everyone should be doing this by now.
Two very notable things here. 1) That is BT, exiting the kitchen and delivering food to a table. She was visible throughout our whole meal. 2) Lithographs of spices, by Cuban artist Luzette Costello - integrate so perfectly here.
As the server addressed me as “Madame”, I couldn’t help but delight at the significant yet subtle touches playing throughout the experience. One of my favorite downtempo electronica songs melted through the air…even the music, I thought, is intentionally curated…
Which brings me to the notion of intention in design…or art, or cuisine, or anything creative that is decisively and beautifully intentional. An alignbetween saying I love to tout is art is not an afterthought.
I have to bow to Chef BT. She is an artist of many realms, fusing it all together in an experience that is anything but…an afterthought.
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