Sarah Giesenhagen and Thad Geldert of Rapt Studio both have personal ties to the Napa, California area (she used to live there, he still does), so when the San Francisco-based design firm was tapped by Moana Restaurant Group to renovate a downtown eatery on the banks of the Napa River, the duo sought to highlight the city as more than just an idyllic backdrop. The designers aimed for Basalt—named in reference to the region’s historic rock quarries—to honor Napa’s agrarian and industrial roots.
“We drew inspiration from natural materials that weren’t too slick or tricky,” says Giesenhagen, who is senior designer at the firm. “It was important to incorporate vintage and refurbished pieces throughout the space to align with this vision. The goal was to create something that felt familiar and native to Napa Valley.”
To achieve that aim, materials such as stone, metal, wood, leather, and canvas were chosen to align with the natural and rustic setting without being flashy. The building’s stone exterior remains, with other parts of the façade painted stucco to harmonize with Basalt’s neutral yet diverse palette, “curated with intention for each layer to still show and not get lost in a heavy mix,” explains Giesenhagen, who adds that the team also incorporated accents of burnished brass and olive green.
Inside, the designers had to contend with several challenges. Views of the dining room, kitchen, and river were previously obstructed by the original restaurant’s bar area, so Giesenhagen and design director Geldert relocated the bar and entry point to be on an axis with the kitchen, while the former central wine cellar and aquarium were scrapped to further open the space. The team also endeavored to raise the ceiling’s existing height without corrupting the desired warmth, adding a new grid of heavy timber beams that creates a canopy feel. “We didn’t want to do an acoustical tile grid and call it good,” Giesenhagen points out.
Also added is a new 20-head tap bar that seamlessly connects the restaurant’s two dining rooms, while white wall tiling featured in the kitchen also dresses the walls of the dining room in order to bring the presence of chef Esteban Escobar and his team to the forefront.
A central 22-seat communal table made from concrete, fabricated metal, and a four-inch slab of Parota wood, is the standout detail anchoring the main dining area, while custom chairs upholstered in hand-dyed cotton canvas and leather mesh with Geldert and Giesenhagen’s locally inspired ambiance. Elsewhere, simple but functional service shelves made from salvaged wooden fruit crates and blackened steel hold old newspapers and roughly 100 music rolls—some of which date as far back as the 1920s—for the restaurant’s antique player piano.
In Basalt’s private dining room, a wall installation from San Francisco-based creative collective Antlre comprises vintage time cards and logs from various industries of the early 1900s; a 1970s-style infinity clock further perpetuates the artwork’s exploration of time. Each custom piece “relates to the general idea of work, effort, and the settling history,” Giesenhagen says. “The space and its components are mindful of where we came from, in addition to attempting to provide for the things people want now.”
