Inside Scoop broke the latest on Michelin 2-starred Coi this morning, namely Daniel Patterson's plans to nix the lounge area he opened with in 2006 and remodel the space into a second dining room so 13 more diners can enjoy his $145 11-course tasting menu on a nightly basis. "Our customers drove the decision for us," says Patterson. "We turn people away every night." Patterson is excited to move forward with a new team he calls "extraordinary" including chef de cuisine Evan Rich.
For the record, Coi's original dining room was revamped about six months ago with a lighter paint job and the addition of windows on the right hand side of the restaurant and by the kitchen. When the new dining room on the left of the restaurant reopens, expect a design that incorporates larger tables without white table cloths, living moss, wood fixtures with plants growing out of test tubes, and other organic touches. Look for the lounge as we know it to cease existence on April 2. The restaurant will close for a few days and reopen on April 7th, its 5th anniversary.
In Oakland news, D-Patt is also building out a food lab to allow for technical and creative development. "In the kitchen there are lots of distractions," notes Patterson. "We can normally try out about three iterations of a dish. In the lab, we'll be able to try 30." While food science labs are present across Europe, backing up El Bulli and the like; ironically, the the only such forum for experimentation in America right now is run by Patterson's friend, Momofuku lord David Chang in the West Village. Patterson's lab will be housed in an undercover, shared space somewhere in Oakland.
· All Previous Coi Coverage [~ ESF ~]