We Need to Talk About Lighting

Because it's one of the most important details to get right in a restaurant setting, The Angel tapped interior designers, lighting engineers, and tasteful restaurateurs for their do’s and don'ts.

Lately, I can’t stop thinking about lighting. About how when you walk into a restaurant, you should only notice the lighting to recognize how lovely it is. It should be sexier, softer, more enveloping than the lighting in your home, unless you’re an interior designer with lighting expertise, or you hired one. Restaurant lighting should feel fitting, even transportive. It should never be distracting or unflattering. I’ve been hung up on how important this is because many restaurants get lighting wrong. I’m not talking about hole-in-the-walls in Koreatown or the San Gabriel Valley, or anywhere where food is what matters and an expectation for atmosphere doesn’t exist. But good lighting is essential for restaurants like Ètra, which is easily one of the best date-night spots in L.A., partly because it’s so well-lit.

“Lighting is by far the most important thing in restaurants when it comes to creating how the space feels,” says co-owner Andrew Lawson, who was the general manager at Estela and Flora Bar in New York before decamping to his hometown to open Ètra and Café Telegrama. Lawson counts Balthazar and the now-closed Schiller’s as early influences on his obsession with lighting, both of which are Keith McNally joints, the legendary New York restaurateur well-known for the distinct amber glow present in each of his restaurants’ dining rooms. I, along with half of my peers, am currently reading McNally’s memoir, I Regret Almost Everything. I’ve also read some of his press blitz, including an interview by the journalist Lizzy Goodman in the inaugural print issue of ICON America, released last week. In it, she asks McNally what his top pointers are for lighting a room, a similar question that I posed to some of my sources for this story. His reply: “Limit overhead lights — because they’re killjoys — and maximize wall sconces and table lamps. Buy shades that give off a warm amber glow and make sure that the inside linings of the shades does too. All lights must be on dimmers. Better to have an abundance of table lamps with low wattage bulbs and fewer with high wattage.”

It’s worth reading the Charleston restaurateur

Brooks Reitz

on this topic, as well as

Clare de Boer

(if you’ve been to Stissing House, you know she knows). But since we need to talk about restaurant lighting here in Los Angeles, I reached out to a handful of relevant experts—interior designers, tasteful restaurateurs, and lighting engineers—for their insights on what not to do when lighting a restaurant, the lighting moves they love to see in restaurants, and the best-lit restaurants in town. I tapped one New York source, too, for fun.

My sources:

Kassandra Thatcher, lighting designer and sculptor, Kassandra Thatcher Studio

Andrew Lawson, owner-operator, Ètra and Café Telegrama

John Zabawa, commercial designer and painter (responsible for the interior design of Café Telegrama and Ètra)

Joseph Rosen, interior designer, Galerie Half

Brendan Ravenhill, principal and design director, Ravenhill Studio

Karen Spector, co-founder and creative director, Lovers Unite

Sara Hall, multimedia artist and interior designer, Merchant Modern

Samantha Wetton, interior designer, Lafayette Studio (responsible for the interior design of Sam’s Place)

Josey Stuart, owner-operator, Bridges (New York)

Their intel:

How would you define good lighting in a restaurant environment?

I believe that good lighting in a restaurant is totally dependent on the context of the surrounding space. Fluorescent lighting, for most people, is by definition abhorrent and harsh. But I think in some restaurant environments (I’m thinking of somewhere like Dolan’s in Alhambra, for example) it works perfectly and even adds to the energy and allure of the dining experience. It sends a message that the food is too good for the lighting to matter, even though it’s the lighting that’s really saying this, and I think puts an emphasis on the act of sharing a delicious meal with your friends as what fuels the environment.

So I guess my definition of a well-lit restaurant is when it feels like it completely integrates itself into a space, maybe sometimes going completely unnoticed, rather than pushing against and actively participating in your dining experience. Lighting is a powerful tool of influence! –Kassandra Thatcher

Dolan’s Uyghur Cuisine. Photo credit: Alhambra Eats.

Good restaurant lighting should be as flattering to the faces of your beloved companions as it is to the food on the table. –Karen Spector

I think to define 'good' lighting, it's important to establish the purpose of lighting in the context of a restaurant. On an industrial level, you need lighting in a restaurant to establish functional assets like reading a menu, or wine list, gazing lovingly at your company, and of course, to appreciate the nuance or simplicity of the dishes themselves. In my mind, good restaurant lighting is a supplementary yet essential accompaniment to the meal itself and the dining experience. I think good restaurant lighting is relatively minimal, as in, not an ornate spectacle, and feels connected to the overall design themes of the space itself. –Joseph Rosen

You look good and the food looks good—that’s the goal. Good lighting in a restaurant creates intimacy and focus. I think of it in layers: when it's done well, the lighting becomes an architectural element that naturally draws people together and helps them feel more present. A sconce in a booth or a soft table lamp casting light downward centers the experience on the table—the conversation, the meal—rather than the distractions around it. –Josey Stuart

Lighting is a powerful tool for leading diners into whatever mood you’re trying to set – if it’s daytime, upbeat and energizing, if it’s evening, warm and intimate. The design of light fixtures themselves is a consideration to be sure, but the quality of light is where the real work is done. It’s not just the look of the light, it’s how it’s delivering light. Is there a shade that helps diffuse glare? Is the light cast at an angle that is flattering? –Brendan Ravenhill

For me, good lighting in a restaurant is something that is warm and makes your eye at ease, something that is architectural and holds the shape, which helps define the room. –Sara Hall

I think that good lighting in a restaurant dictates to the diner what their experience in the space should be. When we think about good lighting in a restaurant, most people picture somewhere that is sexy and dimly lit, such as Musso's, Sal's Place, Houston’s, etc., but I don't think that a moody space is always indicative of good lighting. A warm and dim space is great for a date night or an intimate dinner with friends, but to me, it's not necessarily where I want to go when I'm looking for a fun night out with a big group of friends. In that instance, I much prefer somewhere that is vibrant, and dare I say has conventionally "bad lighting." Some of the most fun meals I have shared with friends have been at fluorescently lit, loud places in the SGV, sharing Tsingtaos around a large round table. The lighting in these spaces is energizing and fun! At Sam's Place, we wanted to create a place where you could come for a cozy candlelit date night, and also a place where you could meet up with a big group of friends to hang on the patio. –Samantha Wetton

When it comes to restaurant lighting, what is something you notice that kills you?