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Source: Photo Illustration by The Standard<\/p>\nThe other night, I went to Brazen Head in Cow Hollow. Unlike most restaurants in the city, the 45-year-old self-proclaimed \u201cpublic house\u201d has zero interest in celebrating the copious California sunlight reflecting off the azure bay. <\/p>\n
Instead, the lights envelop you in an orange glow and are dimmed to the edge of utter darkness, giving a Midwestern grandma-level plate of prime rib and baked potato the feeling of something illicit.<\/p>\n
Clearly, I\u2019m not the only one to think this.\u00a0\u201cYou can hide in our back corner and no one will see you. We\u2019ve had a lot of people meet each other who weren\u2019t supposed to,\u201d laughed owner Eddie Savino when I asked him about the lighting. \u201cYour secret is safe with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This got me thinking about the magic of lighting and how transportative \u2014 even transgressive \u2014 it can be. As someone who resolutely refuses to allow any overhead lighting in her house, barring the kitchen, I am a firm believer that lighting sets the mood. Everything else follows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re at a restaurant, light must never beam down onto your table as it would, say, in a police interrogation. Equally offensive is one-note light that spreads blandly across the room. Even though I\u2019m guilty of taking pictures of my food, the best mood lighting should be just dark enough to curb your compulsion to post anything to Instagram. Honestly, I\u2019d rather the vague humiliation of getting out my reading glasses than be able to easily see the menu.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My sensibilities were confirmed by Keith McNally\u2019s memoir, \u201cI Regret Almost Everything,\u201d released in May. McNally, the founder of some of New York\u2019s most seminal restaurants, including Balthazar, Minetta Tavern, and Pastis, writes that \u201crestaurant design begins and ends with lighting.\u201d He believes that the more side lighting, the more beautiful the room \u2014 and the people in it \u2014 become.<\/p>\n
Source: Photo Illustration by The Standard<\/p>\n
San Francisco restaurant designer Wylie\u202fPrice, who began his career in restaurant kitchens before moving into design, concurs. \u201cMcNally\u2019s got that formula: yellowed wire-glass sconces, distressed mirrors, subway tile. Soft, dingy, beautiful.\u201d <\/p>\n
Price\u2019s San Francisco projects, which include State Bird Provisions, The Progress, and Anchovy Bar, may be very different than McNally\u2019s, but they\u2019re equally thoughtful. \u201cLighting ends up being so crucial in restaurants because two things are playing against each other,\u201d he said. On the one hand, there\u2019s \u201cthe practicality of needing bright kitchen light.\u201d On the other, there\u2019s the need for \u201cmoodier light that makes everyone on a date feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Price subscribes to a \u201clayered technique\u201d \u2014 a mix of direct and ambient light, including decorative fixtures like hanging globes, and another layer that\u2019s focused on the actual tables. Not that he wants you to clock any of that. \u201cSometimes lighting is successful when you don\u2019t notice it at all,\u201d he says. \u201cJust like food \u2014 when it\u2019s right, you\u2019re not analyzing the salt and acid. You\u2019re just enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With LED lights, which are not as naturally warm as incandescents, now required by California law, lighting a restaurant to code here has become even more of an art. Energy consultant Travis\u202fWade, principal of Wade Energy (opens in new tab)<\/a>, which helps businesses adhere to Title 24 California Code of Regulations, the state\u2019s master energy rulebook, says the LED options coming out now \u201care incredible, but you don\u2019t want to buy the cheap stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He offered up a rule of thumb: Find the maximum wattage your restaurant is allowed to use and work backward. \u201cIf you need 1,000 watts, don\u2019t install one blinding fixture. Use 100 10-watt bulbs,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cSpread the light around and you\u2019ll get atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n