Wildland and Lilo
After nearly 4 years of planning, designing, emails, calls, site-visits, City and budget issues… Wildland and Lilo are here.
I’m actually writing this well after Wildland opened (end of 2024) and 2 months after Lilo received its first Michelin Star. I say ‘first’ because this restaurant will get 2 stars before we know it.
There is not much I can say that hasn’t already been written about these two spaces, so I’ll just share a little bit about our experience and how we worked with John and Eric and the rest of the design and build team.
early concept for Wildland (Bells and Whistles)
After working with John on Campfire, Juene et Jolie and his personal property, we were honored and humbled (truly) to be asked to be part of the team on this new dual concept restaurant idea.
But what was the idea? In a nutshell, it was a larger ‘fast-casual’ breakfast and lunch spot along state street… with a much smaller ‘omakase’ style open kitchen/fine-dining restaurant behind it, facing Roosevelt st.
I’ll be honest, at first I was scratching my head on how the two spaces would interact. The ideas by themselves were fantastic and bold and - especially for Lilo - ambitious.
J&J already had a star at this point, but the goal for Lilo was 2 stars… possibly 3*. And only 10 weeks after opening, the 2025 Michelin guide awarded Lilo a star. This was incredible for a new restaurant.
*As of this posting, there are 157 3-star Michelin restaurants in the world. 8 of those are in California, only 1 in San Diego.
Early inspiration by B+W for the Lilo patio
So how would it be done? How would you combine seemingly fast and quick - and large scale - with slow and intentional at a small scale?
The collective team worked for several months going back and forth and laying out the concepts. We were brought in early to consult on exterior design, materials, way-finding and plants. It was a privilege to watch the various professionals insert their expertise. The result is one building with two very distinctive spaces. Wildland and Lilo.
FWL had a hand in the design and certain aspects of construction on the 2 spaces. This was certainly a collaborative effort and the results are a testament to getting a good team together who have mutual respect and admiration for each other.