As a restaurant designer, I have always approached each project with a fresh eye, and tried to completely understand the operator's goals before concepting the space. I have been fortunate to work with talented and ambitious chefs and operators like Staffan Terge and Umberto Giben from Perbacco, and Mark Gordon and Laurie Thomas from Terzo. Each of them already was an ace chef or operator before deciding to open a new venture, which certainly made our collaborative task of designing their restaurant a little easier. But their experience also generated higher expectations, which gave rise to unique challenges in the work. With both Perbacco and Terzo, the spaces the restaurant took over were in very poor shape, and just developing the infrastructure to support a full-service restaurant was no small feat. Understanding the technical requirements of gas, power, water, sewage, and exhaust service is a significant part of the design process, and only after you get that figured out can you even start to think about the creative aspects of the design.