Location - Phoenix, Arizona, USA

St. Francis Restaurant is a fusion of architecture and the cuisine of Chef Aaron Chamberlin. The designs of multiple spaces for dining are eclectic discoveries of indoor and outdoor spaces that uncover, rediscover and repurpose a piece of Arizona architectural history: the 1955 studio of architect Harold Eckman. A concrete wood-fired oven is board-formed at the heart of the restaurant flowing between one and two-story volumes supporting a new large opening in the double-wythe brick wall where a new double-height space becomes the watering hole for this neighborhood. Here an indoor-outdoor bar fronts the busy street where a full-height glass garage door opens the entire two-story volume to auto and pedestrian traffic entering the restaurant.

James Beard Nominee 2010