Wood Tavern 2.0 – Restaurant Interior Design

Renown for great food and warm, gracious service — and repeatedly nominated as one of Oakland’s best eateries, Rockridge’s Wood Tavern has been serving up delicious, local bounty to an appreciative audience for over eight years.

Laura Martin Bovard Interiors Restaurant Makeover

Upscale, Shaker-inspired high back chairs give diners a sense of privacy.

This little stretch of College Avenue is self supporting and self-sustaining. Wood Tavern and neighboring little brother sandwich shop, Southie, both source their freshly baked artisanal bread a couple of doors down from La Farine and an amazing selection of beers from Trappist. When the larders run low, a quick trot in either direction will get it sorted.

Very local – and very low-impact.

Garnering near-immediate accolades upon opening their doors, after nearly a decade of constant service, the cozy, family-owned brasserie was showing signs of wear. Proprietors Rebekah and Rich Wood (who also happen to be my sister and brother-in-law) thought it was good idea to freshen the place up with a restaurant interior design.

Time for Wood Tavern 2.0.

Oakland's Wood Tavern with interior design by Laura Martin Bovard Interiors. Window and bar seating.

Eye-catching Hickory floors refinished to their original glow.

For the updates, we stayed true to our original restaurant interior design and décor intentions for the community-minded eatery – create an inviting, inclusive and convivial space where all feel welcome. And of course, everybody eats.

We freshened the paint and refinished well-worn, Hickory flooring to their original finish. In keeping with the “Wood” name and all it invokes, the eye-catching variegated floor imparts a warm, understated glow to an earthy dining room. These subtle changes helped elevate and enhance the pastoral ambiance of the room, without changing its personality.

Oakland's Wood Tavern with interior design by Laura Martin Bovard Interiors. Prep area. Marble countertops, bar seating.

Marble countertops replace cracked concrete at the “Chef’s Counter.”

Outdated and dinged-up dining room seating was also replaced. Comfortable, Shaker-inspired, stained oak high back chairs imbue the space with an understated, upscale vibe and provide more intimacy while dining. The renewed seating complements the dining room’s tall ceilings, much more in keeping with the scale of the room.

For the cooks, freshly cut marble slabs replaced worn and cracked concrete countertops. This timeless, Old World material lends gravitas to the open cooking area, creating a genial and conversant connection between cooks and customers. Wood Tavern diners love to pull up a stool at the bar¬, or eat the Chef’s counter, to watch talented professionals prepare their food.

However, no matter where you’re sitting, Wood Tavern’s cordial hosts look forward to enjoying your company in their dining room for a memorable meal.

Come on over. You’re among friends.

(Originally published in the Piedmont Post)