Grand Rapids Magazine: Downtown Restaurant Adding Bakery, Café and Event Space

Grand Rapids Magazine featured an article about the New Hotel Mertens, a French-style brasserie that is currently undergoing an expansion designed by Ghafari’s Grand Rapids team. The project involves the addition of a bakery, café, events space, and a basement prep kitchen that will expand New Hotel Mertens’ food preparation and baking capabilities.

The bakery will be enclosed by eight-foot-tall partitions that will allow sounds and aromas to mingle with those in the restaurant, which will be connected by an interior door to the bakery. The partition between the bakery and the restaurant will be glass to allow for a view of the bakery from the restaurant.

In total, the first-floor expansion comprises 1,500 SF. It includes seating for about 20 guests with outlets and free Wi-Fi, as well as an adjoining café with a separate menu from the restaurant.

Our team also designed the original restaurant – completed in late 2017 – which involved the transformation of a former hotel lobby in a historic building that dates back to 1914.

Construction on the expansion kicked off earlier this month and is scheduled to be done in the spring.

Access the full article here.