Times Like These

One of the great parts about that Eccolo article was how Samin Nosrat highlighted the ripple effect of a struggling restaurant, from the janitors to the farmers. Case in point, local restaurant designers like Cass Calder Smith (Terzo, Plant, La Mar et al.) are feeling the sting too: "Business is down about 25 percent from our peak a year ago, and we were able to reduce staff a little to reflect the decreased load ... Restaurants are still happening, but the deals seem to be taking longer and the budgets are lower—which sometimes leads to better results." [HD]