Be Wowed By The Cinematic Nature Of This SoCal Restaurant

Craving a superb vegan meal—no, that’s not an oxymoron—in a sumptuous setting? If you’re in the vicinity of Southern California’s Marina del Rey, head dockside to PLANTA Cocina, the newest iteration of the multiethnic plant-based restaurant chain’s Latin-inspired sub-brand. Founded in Toronto in 2016 as PLANTA—a humble spot for street-inspired vegan fare—the company rapidly expanded, introducing two spin-offs: PLANTA Queen, for Asian-influenced cuisine, and PLANTA Cocina. Today, the now Miami-based enterprise has 17 North American venues spanning all three concepts.

Hospitality specialist ICrave, a Journey Studio got involved early with PLANTA’s expansion and has completed 12 restaurants to date, with Marina del Rey one of the two most recent. (There’s a sister restaurant nearby called PLANTA Brentwood.) Greg Merkel, ICrave’s creative director, introduces the project with a bit of backstory. From the beginning of the relationship—being, as he admits, “creative beasts”—the firm worked hand-in-hand with the client on devising easily replicable architectural standards, while ensuring that “every space is cool and unusual in every location.” ICrave’s interpretation of the brand? “These folks are serious and passionate about being vegan,” Merkel acknowledges. “We’re serious and passionate about responsible design, with ‘responsible’ being the key word.” No surprise, then, that a symbiotic dynamic has emerged, in which consistently raising the design bar mirrors constantly elevating the menu offerings across the board.

Step Into The Spotlight At PLANTA Cocina By ICrave

The 3,500-square-foot, single-level venue is housed in a buzzy complex of individual eateries offering fare ranging from burgers and sushi to pies and coffee. The building has a Spanish colonial vibe, with a creamy stucco exterior, red-tile roof, and large, double-height arched windows framing views of the yacht-filled marina immediately across the walkway. Boasting a 20-foot-high ceiling, the long, relatively narrow interior provided ICrave with a near-ideal blank slate to realize what Merkel describes as the project’s governing idea: “a multiplicity of uses and experiences providing a reason for guests to return.” That dictum, which underlies every PLANTA location no matter how unique, is reflected in a consistently tripartite floor plan: an attention-grabbing bar-cum-lounge coupled with a large public dining area and a more intimate, private one. However, there’s no seating hierarchy and no “Siberia”—everyone orders from the same menu in this egalitarian, food-forward environment.

“We knew we’d enter into the bar—the beacon,” Merkel notes, addressing step one, which, in typical SoCal fashion, means arriving directly from the parking lot. A number of bold, even cinematic gestures generates the necessary wow factor, not least a procession of room-spanning arches that runs the length of the bar area, transforming the space into a grand, Alhambra-esque arcade. These curving architectural elements, made of plaster-finished drywall, increase sequentially in height, creating a forced perspective that makes the interior appear to expand as it progresses from the front door toward the arched windows in the distance.

Triumphal Curves Set The Stage At This SoCal Eatery

More than just a coup de théâtre, the arches serve multiple functions, helping define low semicircular booths outfitted with banquette seating and—along with a wood ceiling grid they partially conceal—taming the acoustics of the cavernous volume. As they swoop down behind the bar itself, these curved forms intersect with a sculptural arrangement of triangular GFRG slabs—an homage to PLANTA’s logo—amidst which illuminated bottled spirits are displayed, a refreshing departure from the nondescript rows lurking behind most bartenders.

Step two in fulfilling the concept uses materials to clearly define the three constituent zones. The bar and private dining room feature custom tile flooring in a distinctive pattern and palette—terra-cotta, ecru, and charcoal—evocative of Guadalajara, Mexico, where, in fact, the ceramics were handcrafted. Flooring transitions to wood-look porcelain laid in a herringbone pattern for the 89-seat main dining room, a transition marked by a full-height archway clad in emerald ceramic subway tile. Arched niches line one side of the room, serving as backdrops to banquettes and framing a leafy supergraphic wallcovering commissioned from Candice Kaye, one of ICrave’s favorite go-to artists.

Seek Out Nature In This Vegan Restaurant

In the adjacent private dining room—an intimate space centered on a single round table for 10—the walls are finished in rosy-hued, adobelike plaster that echoes the color and texture of the bar’s sculptural installation. A series of irregularly shaped, illuminated niches peppers one wall, enhancing the south-of-the-border vibe, while a cascading chandelier of blown-glass orbs dramatizes the soaring ceiling height. Like the main room, this quiet sanctum opens onto the dining terrace, a festive expanse splashed with brightly graphic upholstery fabrics. Rattan-and-wicker pendant fixtures suspended from a handsome wood pergola conjure tropical climes—while the boats docked little more than an arm’s-length away give rise, perhaps, to dreams of setting sail toward them.

ICrave Channels Drama + Design At PLANTA Cocina

ICRAVE, A JOURNEY STUDIO: TINA KOTHARI; TYLER BLAZER; JUSTIN LEE; NICOLAS HERRERA; ROSA CAPO. VMC ARCHITECTURE: ARCHITECT OF RECORD. JOURNEY LIGHTING: LIGHTING CONSULTANT. SPEC ENGINEERING: MEP. OCEAN BUILDERS CONSTRUCTION: GENERAL CONTRACTOR.

FROM FRONT FORMGLAS: WALL INSTALLATION (BAR). CLÉ TILE: BAR-FRONT TILE. SCHOOL-HOUSE ELECTRIC & SUPPLY CO.: TABLE LAMPS. ARMSTRONG: WOOD-GRID CEILING. ARTERIORS: SCONCES. ISIMAR: STOOLS (BAR), ARMCHAIRS (TERRACE). CASA MAGNA: ARMCHAIRS (LOUNGE). CERÁMICA SURO: CUSTOM FLOOR TILE (LOUNGE, PRIVATE DINING). BOYD LIGHTING: SCONCE (RESTROOM). ZIA TILE: FLOOR TILE. PALECEK: PENDANT FIXTURES (DINING ROOM). CANDICE KAYE DESIGN: CUSTOM WALLPAPER. MASAYACO: TEAK CHAIRS. WOOD TAILORS CLUB: UPHOLSTERED CANE CHAIRS. RBW: CHANDELIERS (DINING ROOM, PRIVATE DINING). CARL HANSEN & SØN: CHAIRS (PRIVATE DINING). BAUX: ACOUSTIC CEILING PANELS. SERENA & LILY: PENDANT FIXTURES (TERRACE) THROUGHOUT SIMPLY TABLES: CUSTOM TABLES.