PHILADELPHIA - For the new dining room, the Garces team started to reimagine the space back in late spring when the shut-down forced restaurants around the region, state, and country to shut-down. The closure presented an opportunity for The Olde Bar team to step back from busy service days, and get creative and out of the box.
After several months of renovations, the end result is a brand new vibe that plays off of a nostalgic library filled with stacks of classic books, vintage lamps, colorful and quirky art, emerald jewel-toned reading lamps, a reading lounge, and even QR codes delivered to the table inside a book. The fourteen dining nooks all ensure that tables are more than the standard six feet apart. In fact, some tables and chairs are more than ten feet away from the patrons at the adjacent book.
On top of the private mini-dining rooms, the space also features old fashion-inspired library reading desks perfect for date night or happy hour bites for parties of two. All dining nooks and reading desks all come with a full view of the stunning low pressed-tin ceilings and the overhanging nautical caged (or beer garden-style) lights. Guests will notice the changes when they enter the newly renovated host area - that is also library-themed. For the make-over, Garces worked with his internal teams throughout the pandemic while the restaurant was closed.
In addition to the renovations in the main dining room, Garces has also changed up the layout and operations in the bar dining room - with socially distanced seating that leaves every other banquet unoccupied to keep guests more than six feet apart.
