An Architect’s Cookbook

Representing the first 16 years of Glen Coben’s design agency, An Architect’s Cookbook celebrates Coben’s distinct pleasure of working with some of the greatest chefs of this present time— having had a front-row seat to witness the growth of “farm-to-table” cuisine, “molecular gastronomy,” the burger craze, the Neapolitan pizza craze, the kale-ification of our consciousness, the paleo diet, the juice cleanse, and the rapid rise of food bloggers, social media, the “foodie,” and the deification of chefs into rock stars. Through these varied developments, what has remained consistent is that the challenge of opening a restaurant has not become any easier. Whether the restaurant is a burger restaurant, dive bar, taqueria, or a four-star grand Italian destination, the stakes are always high for every restaurateur or chef, each having investors, budgets, schedules and the desire to deliver their own vision of service and cuisine. Each design process is a journey to discover the soul of each project – to tell its story in a manner that compliments each chef’s vision. Coben’s journey has taken him literally and metaphorically to Mexico, Strasbourg, Paris, Texas, California, the Islands, the Bronx, Queens, London, and all over Italy.