Asian subtleties grace design of Chicago's Red Light

Nation's Restaurant News, April 7, 1997 by Carolyn Walkup

CHICAGO -- The new Red Light restaurant, a pan-Asian concept on West Randolph Street here, is a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds thanks to partner Jerry Kleiner's custom design.

Kleiner, who was a designer before he added "restaurateur" to his resume, transformed an empty shell of a warehouse into his three-dimensional canvas, creating a complicated, one-of-a-kind showpiece that took six months and $2 million to build.

Despite the pan-Asian cuisine, Kleiner decided against incorporating too many "obvious" Asian design elements.

"It's Art Nouveau with Spanish Barcelona and some subtle Asian elements. This is my interpretation of Asian in Chicago," said Kleiner, a partner in KDK Restaurant Group with Michael Kornick, Howard Davis, Dan Krasny and Brad Polakow.

A 22-foot-tall, flame-shaped red-light sculpture made from steel and red fiberglass, first captures the eye outside the front entrance. Hand-carved mahogany doors and mosaic-tile floor designs lead the visitor into the restaurant.

Ceilings are curved and beamed instead of flat. Parquet floors in double-herringbone patterns are accented with swirls of hand-laid, half-inch-square Italian mosaic tile subtly featuring such Asian motifs as dragons.

Large windows framed in handcrafted steel and wood allow in plenty of natural light during the daytime and feature views of the semi-industrial street, known for its wholesale-produce markets. Pin-spot lighting highlights many delicate details in the restaurant, especially at night. A bustling exhibition kitchen enlivens one end of the dining room, and main-room seating is offered on two levels.

Kleiner and his partners spared no expense in finding just the right materials for the Red Light project. Honduran mahogany covers three rounded support beams in the main dining room, and fabrics for wall decorations, chair backs and seats, and bar stools -- including 18th-century silk damask from Paris -- came from a high-end fabric house that charges as much as $2,000 a yard.

The "second" dining room or tea room, has a clubby feeling, with an abundance of wood paneling, a 1919 mahogany Art Nouveau bar, antique armoires, mosaic-tile-accented floors and ornate service stations with curved granite tops and copper and wrought-iron accents.

Kleiner also designed and manufactured the furniture and twisted-steel railings, including raw-steel table bases and chairs, each of which is unique.

Even the individual bathrooms are one-of-a-kind designs. Each has a vaulted copper-leaf ceiling, copper sinks and a different color scheme.

Kleiner actually operates his own manufacturing plant, Kleiner Design, which he opened to gain better quality control and to eliminate lengthy lead times for custom orders. "To get the right look and to control the process, I had to open my own shop," he noted.

At Red Light, Kleiner also hired European-American craftsmen to do some of the detailed work that few American builders know how to do today, he said.

"It's a passion," insisted Kleiner, who also designed the company's two older restaurants on the same street Marche and Vivo. "I wanted to be able to build something with integrity and quality that has its own artistic feeling."

Of the three restaurants' designs Red Light's is the most efficient in meeting the needs of restaurant operations Kleiner said. "We really laid this one out efficiently," he added. "As we build more, you learn from them."

KDK Restaurant Group partner Kornick, who also is executive chef, worked with Kleiner in designing the restaurant's kitchens. The most visible area for food production is located next to the front window, where cooks butcher ducks, marinate spareribs and perform other tasks on a large, solid butcher-block work station. A few whole ducks and racks of barbecued ribs hang in front of the window.

The design sets the tone for a menu that is nontraditional and full of surprises although most of the dishes are based on traditional recipes. According to Kornick, "Red Light creates a traditional Chinese, Thai, Malaysian and partly Vietnamese menu concentrating on vegetarian and seafood cooking while having the flexibility to respect and honor the dietary preferences of today's Chicago diner."

A few of the 95 dishes on Red Light's menu, inspired by Kornick's extensive research trips to Asia, are five-spice spare ribs, mussels with coconut milk, green curry and affirmed Indonesian lamb with Jakarta chili sauce; Wai Chee's duck with plum sauce; and vanilla plum compote with ginger ice cream.

Just as Kornick constantly fine-tunes the menu, Kleiner continued to refine design details months after the restaurant opened. In fact, he delayed the opening for several months because of the lengthy construction process.

"It cost us more not to be open when we were supposed to be, but the consumer appreciates it and will support us," Kleiner said.

Another dining room with seating for between 80 and 100 patrons is scheduled to be added upstairs and will be used primarily for private parties.