Checker Hall — Los Angeles, USA

Thirty-five years after the last secret handshake was exchanged, Highland Park’s landmark Masonic Lodge has been given a new lease of life as a theatre and performing arts venue.
The LA-based studio Design, Bitches has been careful to preserve original features of the 1923 Renaissance Revival-styled block – a stone’s throw from stained glass specialists Judson Studios and Lummis House – not least the ornamental chandeliers and cherry wood panels. However, it’s their intervention in the restaurant that really catches the eye.
Here, Kvadrat-upholstered banquettes, Maharam Checker fabric and Timorous Beasties Thistle wallpaper are a subtle nod to the building’s past, while Thonet ‘Era’ chairs and Normann Copenhagen ‘Form’ bar-stools alongside a Negro Marquina marble bar top add a jolt of modernity. Executive chef Hovig Agop’s rustic Mediterranean menu, meanwhile, flirts between grilled octopus on a bed of labneh, and a mizuna salad of tangerines and lentils warmed with citrus vinaigrette.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
104 N Avenue 56
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New York
This modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
Italy’s most famous recipe book gets a revamp for its latest edition
‘Il Cucchiaio d'Argento’, or ‘The Silver Spoon’, is Italy's best-known recipe book: artist Olimpia Zagnoli and cultural design studio Bunker collaborated on a new look for its latest edition
-
Messika marks 20 years with a high jewellery collection inspired by Namibia
The Terres d’Instinct high jewellery collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week, is a riot of colour and bold forms
-
Seven kitchens, one fire: inside LA’s hottest new food market
At Maydan Market, chef Rose Previte turns global street food and layered design into a vibrant, fire-lit experience
-
The Viceroy Hotel Group wants you to get on your bike
Across properties in Santa Monica, Chicago, Washington DC and the Algarve, Viceroy guests can experience curated cycling routes and community events
-
Big flavours and bold design define La Nena Cantina, Los Angeles's newest Mexican hotspot
From handmade tortillas to 40-ingredient mole, this new Sunset Boulevard restaurant takes Mexican cuisine seriously
-
Aperitivo time is this Los Angeles bar’s ‘ragione di vita’
Located in Echo Park, Bar Bacetti is a welcoming haunt celebrating the great Italian ‘art of snacking’
-
This boisterous cocktail bar in Denver was inspired by Le Corbusier
A 1950s furniture showroom has been reborn as a modernist social hub in the city’s Sunnyside neighbourhood. Its cocktails? Semiprecious
-
In Los Angeles, Darling doesn’t want to be your average dinner spot
Vinyl, live-fire cooking, and California’s finest ingredients come together in this immersive new concept from a celebrated Southern chef
-
The best dinner party in San Francisco is thrown at this bistro and vinyl bar
A new chapter begins in Mission Creek as Side A opens in the former Universal Café space
-
Daisy Margarita Bar reimagines the Mexican tavern with vaquero flair in Los Angeles
From frozen guacamole margaritas to lamb shank with frijoles puercos, this new Sherman Oaks destination mixes playful gastronomy with tradition