The Gallery
Los Angeles, California
Founder-led immersive dining and entertainment venue combining curated environments, narrative, and hospitality.
Daren was co-owner and the lead creative for an immersive dining venue in downtown Los Angeles called The Gallery. Designed as a theater for food, the main room seated 80 people in prix fixe 2-hour dining experiences featuring 5 courses preceded each by 2-4 minute performances. A live host performer called "The Curator" brought the room (projection-mapped windows, walls, and table tops) to life through words and gestures to create unique environments based on the Five Classical Elements: earth, water, air, fire, and the aether. During the dining course the tabletops turned interactive and communal style seating allowed for guests to make new connections with their friends or neighboring strangers.
An adjacent dining drinking space called Horizon Lounge featured a miniature cityscape with media in the windows of the storefronts, apartments and offices - offering glimpses of daily life that could change with the time of day, season or adapt for parties and special events.
Daren led the design of all elements, from interior design to thematic pieces, and designed the theater and created the intial show experience Elementa. The company was self funded and the prototype experience in LA was a huge success with audiences and the press, having been featured in Hollywood Reporter, Eater LA, the Los Angeles Times, and on many television broadcasts.
LA TImes: Dine Amid Flowing Lava at Downtown L.A.'s New Immersive Restaurant