Interviewing Rachel Hodson was a full circle moment for me. In 2010, I launched the Sugar House Farmers Market, and Rachel, who was the owner of the food periodical Edible Wasatch, was also launching her second-ever issue of the magazine. She interviewed me about creating a community movement around sustainability, access to food, and starting a grassroots market. We’ve both moved on to other things in the ensuing years, but we have always stayed in touch in true Small Lake City fashion. I chased her down for an interview (quite literally) in her garden, and the circle was complete.
Through the contacts and connections she made while running the magazine, when Rachel was ready for a transition, she naturally gravitated towards doing work for the restaurateurs. It turns out that her eye for design in print translated well to interior design. But she will readily admit that she was not classically trained. Rachel’s company, Stunning Dismount, was born of a desire to blend sustainable spaces that are not just aesthetically pleasing. “I have a long-standing interest in local food systems and permaculture systems and economic systems,” says Rachel. “I’m passionate about regenerative systems in all forms. And that was a good part of what Edible Wasatch was about. It’s been a through line professionally, and I’ve landed on both sides of that line, where I have felt like I’m really in my integrity.”
A Shift to Sustainability in Restaurant Design
Rachel has always had a passion for local foodways and systems and a devotion to the ethos of slow and sustainable food. She says, “It was the cradle that I was born in here in this incarnation of my career.” Clean design, much like clean food, is difficult to navigate. During the pandemic, as things ground to a halt in the restaurant industry, Rachel had time and space to reassess her values and practices, taking the time to educate herself about sustainable building practices. “I realized that we’ve taken all the worst principles of fast fashion or fast food and now been applying them to interior design,” she says. “It’s an extraordinarily wasteful place to put our energy ecologically and economically. It has real, significant impacts up and down the chain. I was increasingly having difficulty with that emotionally. I have some eco-guilt.” She attended conferences and learned about more sustainable design practices, finally translating that to helping others understand why it is essential as they are building out restaurants and other public spaces. “I started to educate myself about how I might better serve clients and help them transition to a more sustainable way of being or thinking.”
“We’re experiencing space with all five of our senses. It is not just about how it looks; it’s about how it smells, how it sounds, how the light changes, and also how the air feels in the room.” Good restaurant design considers all of those things and solves for them.
—Rachel Hodsen
Rachel has always seen public spaces as the key to educating communities about sustainability, much like restaurants, which, over the years, have educated people about food. “I think restaurants and public spaces should be frontline educators about more sustainable building practices,” she says. Her recent project at Manoli’s, the patio extension and bar area, is a prime example of integrating sustainability into design. The patio extension was designed to bring the outdoors inside, reflecting her philosophy of creating eco-conscious, functional spaces. The windows can open entirely, bringing the outside in. The space can open to the dining room or close off for a private gathering. All were built in collaboration with Manoli and Katrina, the owners of Manoli’s, and in line with sustainability best practices. “I’ve become obsessed with how we interact with the outside on the inside,” Rache says. “Hopefully, the patio extension at Manoli’s gives them that patio vibe even when it’s not summer.”
Collaborative Restaurant Design Philosophy
Rachel’s approach to design has evolved over the years to a more collaborative process. She works hand in hand with her clients to ensure that spaces meet their vision, are built with eco-friendly materials and methods, and meet the functional and emotional needs of everyone who will occupy that space. “I now enjoy collaborating with restaurateurs,” she says. “We all bring stuff to the table. Then, in the interim of each meeting, work on developing the design and coming back with ideas. It gives everyone time to digest what we’re doing and respond to it instead of making all those big decisions all at once. You lose a little bit of creative control over the project that way. But I think for me, that’s better because it makes the work I do feel more like a guidance or I’m like a design coach.”
When shepherding clients through the design process, Rachel likes to think about all the sensory things that go into a space to build a complete visual and emotional experience. Returning to Manoli’s, “They originally approached me with ‘Let’s get new tables for the patio.’ I said, ‘That patio is not serving you, and the service flow there could be better. Let’s talk about how to make the little engine that is your restaurant run better,” she says. “That is more of how I approach design. Asking ‘What’s the return on this investment for you if you’re a business?’ ‘What will it be like to work in that space?’ I build 3D models and prefer to work that way. I put myself in every single seat and every single workstation and think obsessively about service flow and entry points and sight lines and pinch points and how you make it feel good.”
Coming Attractions: The Tower Theater
Rachel is committed to continuing her work in regenerative design. One of her upcoming projects includes the green remodel of the Tower Theater, which she sees as a significant opportunity to integrate sustainability on a larger scale. After redesigning the Broadway Theater years ago, Rachel was brought on to work on the neighborhood landmark. “It’s a neighborhood preservation project, and we’re walking very thoughtfully in that direction,” she says of the project.
Rachel’s passion for creating functional and sustainable spaces is her driving force, and she is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of design to reflect her values. “I’m leaning into letting my ethics around being better earthlings, better citizens, drive my business now as much as I can.”
