Where to Eat if You’re Wild About Design

The Most Architecturally Interesting Restaurant Interiors of the East End

Dinner is grand, but how important is where you’re eating — aesthetically — when it comes to the framework of dinner? It matters. It matters a lot. The entire vibe of dinner and how it plays out can be completely colored by the room that it’s served in. Which is why we’ve thought long and hard about the most architecturally interesting restaurant interiors on the East End, welcoming newcomers and old friends to the party. 

New to Montauk this summer is Talya, an opening at Ruschmeyer’s, the perennial place to be if you like to party. The Mediterranean concept is helmed by chef Geoffrey Lechantoux, who has worked under chefs Alain Ducasse and Gordon Ramsey at restaurants like Louis XV in Monaco, Trianon Palace in Versailles, Plaza Athénée and Le Jules Verne in Paris, and Benoit in New York. Although the food promises to wow, we’re here for the equally impressive architectural features of the main dining room. The restaurant’s interior — lofted ceilings, windows that allow in the light from sunset and also a view of Lake Montauk — are draped with hanging vines and large, neutral sconces. Banquettes frame the walls, allowing for a huge, open space, one of the most visually arresting in all of the East End.

Southampton’s Enchanté, open in the former Red Bar space, offers up gorgeous coffered ceilings for architecture lovers who also love to revel in a good meal. The restaurant also has a decorative bar (marble top, gold pendant lighting, a hint of coral highlighting the extensive liquor selection) to promote this design-forward restaurant’s architectural features, like pleasant dining nooks made cozy through natural light and banquette seating. No matter the time of year, it’s hard to pass up the French onion soup in a comfortable, well-appointed place like this.

At the Beacon, which is now celebrating its 25th season, the bar is the feature to focus on. Although guests flock to this seasonal beauty at sunset — the restaurant has one of the finest views in all of the Hamptons — the curved bar, which stands prominently in the middle of the restaurant, is an architectural feat. It only seats eight people, and this centerpiece is the first thing you’ll see when you walk into the restaurant — if your eyes aren’t diverted toward the setting sun. If you’re one of the lucky to snag a seat, order the pork pretzel buns with hoisin, pickle, creamy kohlrabi slaw, and sriracha. 

Many have come to Almond, in Bridgehampton, and fallen in love with the pink, zebra-clad wallpaper on the back wall. Many have come and fallen in love with the locally sourced cuisine put out by chef-owner Jason Weiner. But how many have come and fallen in love with the architecturally distinct ceilings, coffered, but also intricately designed, painted white, light reflecting from the black, stylized pendant lighting? It’s hard not to feel architectural inspiration in a place like Almond, where subway tile — an added decorative touch — lines the walls, and where sleek black banquettes add just a touch of bistro. But if the ceilings, walls, and seats don’t move you, well, the steak frites just might.