For his newest restaurant, fittingly called Norman’s 180 in the Westin Colonnade in Coral Gables, Florida, Norman Van Aken, Miami’s James Beard award-winning “founder of New World cuisine” decided to change things up a bit. “His idea was to make a 180-degree turn from previous menus, this time focusing mostly on smaller, well-traveled bites,” explains Malcolm Berg, principal of local firm Edge of Architecture (EoA). “These tapas-sized dishes would represent a fusion of local cuisines, calling on cultures that were, and still are, South Florida’s foundation.”

With that in mind, Berg and his team developed a concept based on figurative travel. “What it must have been like to be an explorer, tasting foods our culture had never tasted, of preparing for a trip to the unknown, of packing leather-strapped trunks full of supplies, used for both consumption and for trade,” he explains. “Like the familiar smell of leather and the crackling flicker of a candle, traces of a bygone era are fully permeated in a contemporary setting. Finding and understanding these traces is left to the guest.”

Antique glass jars filled with spices are suspended from steel arms and leather straps. Banquettes are tufted in alligator-inspired hide and the room is swathed in warm woods. The bar back is surrounded by metal panels finished in gunmetal wax polish and backlit to show the wood beyond, which feature a series of whimsical quotes by infamous historical figures. Ceiling panels are made of harvested, rough-hewn logs. Circular chandeliers are evocative of a series of gas-fired lanterns. And opposite the bar an art piece made of backlit salt slabs hangs on the wall.

“The space is designed around engagement, around lines of sight, where every space presents a glimpse of spaces beyond,” Berg says, adding that he and is firm are working on several hotel renovations. “The concept of hide and reveal, of providing inquisitive vignettes to be revealed as one circulates through the space, is paramount in the design. Every space is designed to foster conversation.”