Grub - Los Angeles, CA

Sunday, 5/17/09, 12 pm

This restaurant is in a very nondescript area, until you walk into it's courtyard. In a tiny little house, the one room stall seemed to make sense. Although it looked a little like they used the bathroom for storage as well (not one of my favorite things), the knickknacks around the room warmed up even the pale walls. There were 50s-like framed saying as well as pictures of the staff. However - also not a big fan of the visible septic tank.



Apologies for the out-of-focused pictures.

An added bonus - Grub is owned by Betty Fraser from the second season of Top Chef. My friend who took me there didn't even realize. Always a nice surprise on a Sunday morning.

Old Fisherman's Grotto - Monterey, CA

Wednesday, 5/13/09, 2 pm

This tourist restaurant along the water in Monterey wasn't as outrageous as it's outside. But it's bathroom was something else. Looking as though it hadn't been renovated in decades, with marble-looking walls and mirrors everywhere, this restroom was over the top.



I remember there not being much soap in the dispensers, but other than that, it was relatively clean. Again I was on vacation so I wasn't paying that much attention.

Here's more on Old Fisherman's Grotto.

Fogcatcher Inn - Cambria, CA

Wednesday, 5/13/09, 7 pm

I was out West for vacationand sort of slacked off on my restroom viewing. I will say the restroom at Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in Berkeley is perfectly in line with the rustic, farmhouse look of the place (even though it's on a shopping strip in Berkeley). But I did stay at a very cute place in Cambria, right on the beach, with a great bathroom.



Here's the actual room at the Fogcatcher Inn.

Kaz Sushi - Washington, DC

Monday, 5/4/09, 7:30 pm - Foggy Bottom

I often skip mentioning the restrooms in Asian restaurants, usually because they're just forgotten spaces with a storage closet. However that wasn't the case at Kaz. This well-thought out bathroom also smelt pretty good (and no storage closet in sight). The scent sticks seemed to be working.


Beside the half-wall mirror over the sink, the single stall had a full length mirror, but not in an awkward place (you can kind of see it in the right corner). I liked that the garbage can was disguised in the wood vanity. The paper towel dispenser and toilet paper holder were my least favorite parts, but I guess you can't get everything. Here's more on Kaz Sushi.

More Toilet Tips

Again, I don't particularly look for news about bathrooms, but the Times seems to be covering them a lot lately in relationship to new venue openings. Check out this paragraph in the coverage of the opening of the latest Broadway theater:

White Way Gets a ‘Green’ Theater
The 50,000-square-foot theater, which includes a spacious women’s restroom with 22 stalls, three times the number required by code, is built behind the preserved and restored neo-Georgian facade of the original 1918 theater.

I'd like to point out that it's progress to note the restroom as part of the viewing experience. The simple idea that not having to wait in line might enhance the performance is a recognition of how a wait could ruin your day.

Central - Washington, DC

Friday, 5/1/09, 9 pm - Penn Quarter

Wedged between the kitchen and the bar and up a ramp sits Central's restrooms. I loved the pearlized glass tiles covering the walls. They were offset by pink/dark mauve walls and a matching sink - a tilted-trough sink. The three stalls were fully separated and the handicap stall has its own sink it (I didn't get a chance to check it out). The toilet paper roll perched on its own stand was a nice touch.


Again, apologies for the blur. I meant to also get a picture of the door - pieces of dark blue glass set in a glass door with a wooden frame. It allowed you to see figures outside, but wasn't that translucent to make more much more than a shape. The branding continued into the restroom, with the door handles were large "C"s - on both the inside and the outside.

The bathroom was clean and well kept, definitely living up to the restaurant - stylish, but no over the top. Here's more on Central.

Zaytinya - Washington, DC

Saturday, 4/25/09, 9 pm - Chinatown

Offering 3 stalls in a spacious bathroom, the bright blue in each stall is offset by pale marble (marble looking?) tiles and white walls. O ne quirk (or perk) was the purse hook. At least I think it was a purse hook. It was a round hook directly above the toilet. I suppose it could have been a votive holder though that would be an odd place for it. If it is a purse hook, it makes it much more secure (though potentially hazardous should something fall out of your bag).

In the sink area, there's a lot of what I think would be called "negative space" which I usually find wasteful, but I think it make the room feel airy. Three bowl sinks on wooden pedestals greet you with the actual fixtures coming out of the wall. The layout of the mirror allows a few people to be washing their hands and still have room for others to touch up in the mirror.


And another unusual hook situation - a few beside the sinks. Sorry for the blurriness (you have to hold the blackberry really still). If you're looking for more details on Zaytinya, here you go.

Sonoma - Washington, DC

Thursday, 4/23/09, 8:30 pm - Capitol Hill

There have definitely been improvements to this bathroom since Sonoma opened a few years ago. I vaguely remember it being one stall with the toilets back to back and no doors around them. Check out this review from Roll Call back in 2005:

"Sonoma's puzzling unisex bathroom on the main floor contains two toilets, partially obscured by partitions - the key word being partially. A sign on the inside of the door instructs patrons to lock the door. This bathroom was built for women who go to the restroom together ... and no one else. "There's always a line," our waitress told us, with a hint of exasperation in her voice. And that line? It forms precariously close to the constantly swinging kitchen doors."

But things have improved (even a poster on donrockwell.com noticed). They've made the bathroom into two stalls, which didn't improve the wait time but definitely made me less nervous to go to the bathroom.

The single stall I went into was modern with clean lines, and the paper towels were the heavy cloth type - the kind between actual cloth and paper. I liked the stainless steel soap dispenser, rather than one on the wall. Behind the white trough sink, the waste basket was made of dark wicker and didn't seem to quite fit. The restroom was clean enough and non-descript as if it didn't want to distract from anything else.

Here's more on Sonoma.

Potty Press

While I don't actively search out news on bathrooms, I did find these two recent articles worth sharing, especially given the lack of emphasis many places put on making sure bathrooms are available (I've expressed my feelings about one uni-sex stall for a whole restaurant).

The NYTimes article does a great a job of explaining the need for more women's bathrooms and how more are being made available in stadiums, while the Washington Post piece discusses where to find a public restroom in NYC. They point out a popular place has become Crate & Barrel (I think in Soho), though I would still recommend hotels when possible. And I promise if I get to any of the locations, I'll post my findings.

New York Times: New Ballpark Statistic: Stadium’s Toilet Ratio
If nothing else, $2 billion worth of baseball ballparks should buy shorter waits for the restrooms, at least for women...It may be the biggest moment “for potty parity that we have seen, to have two big facilities open at the same time, and all these restrooms open at once,” said Kathryn Anthony, a professor of architecture at the University of Illinois and a board member of the American Restroom Association.

Washington Post: In Need of a Toilet in New York: There's So Much to See, but Where Do You Go?
In Times Square, three generations of Louisiana women bemoaned their first day. "We spent five hours walking around," said Whitney Rainwater, "and we only found one bathroom."

UPDATE: Julie Stiles wrote a Wall Street Journal piece about opening day at Citifield, confirming the latest innovation in the women's bathroom: "the only place you'll find a quicker ladies room is at a Rush concert -- I know from experience." So I'm hardly the only one who thinks about these things.

Founding Farmers - Washington DC

Tuesday, 4/7/09, 8 pm - Foggy Bottom

There was definitely care given to planning this bathroom. The walls of both stalls were decorated with fields of corn (I think it was corn) while one wall was a full length mirror.

Even the light fixture had an outdoor touch (I think it's supposed to look like leaves), though that might be a bit much - the attempt to cram anything and everything nature-y into one space. Knowing Founding Farmers prides itself on being a LEED building and carbon neutral, I'm hope they were using energy saving bulbs.

One complaint I did have was about the toilets, which were magic eye of course theoretically to save water. However, it was quite sensitive. Every time I moved an inch, it flushed. Not exactly helpful.

The sink area looks like a farm-house type setting (basin sink but with a magic eye faucet). As expected, the restroom had no paper towels or cloth ones for that matter. Just the Dyson superpowered hand dryer to dry off.


I did also want to point out the wall decor outside the stalls. Painted to look like old chalk boards, the walls had quotes across them (I'm guessing they never change and probably aren't actually erasable).


Here's more on Founding Farmer's.