Peruvia-born Designer Joemy Vega on Tabletop and Its Role in The Overall Restaurant Design

Joemy Vega discovered her love for Design at a very early age of 6 while living in Lima, Peru then her native country where she lived for 13 years.  She then moved to the US and obtained her BFA in Interior Design at IADT and her passion for hospitality design became the drive of her career. Now, after 70 plus restaurantsdesigned in more than 20 countries, Joemy confirms that her love for hospitality keeps growing stronger as she keeps finding more and new inspirations for spaces.

Joemy recently launched deVega Studio, a restaurant focused, hospitality design firm.

TTJ: You’ve been designing restaurant and other hospitality interiors for some time now, tell us a little about your background

JV: Designing restaurants, I’ve been doing it for over ten years. I used to work with Hard Rock International….for six and a half years I was in charge for all of the design of the cafes for half of the (United) States, South America, and Central America. 

TTJ: : How was participating in the Tabletop Challenge and designing a total tabletop while racing against the clock at the IHMRS Show in New York this past November? 

JV: It was fun because honestly I didn’t know anything. I am a firm believer that when hiring designers to create something different, it’s always great to have someone with a non-perspective of that industry to come in and say ‘here it is; give me what you think with whatever background you got’.

Joemy Vega’s Tabletop Challenge tabletop design from the IHMRS Show in New York used a wide variety of products from multiple tabletop manufacturers. A list of the products that Joemy used in her tabletop is shown below. TTJ: At TabletopJournal, we speak a lot about tabletop and its impact on the overall guest experience. What are your thoughts on tabletop and the guest experience from designer’s perspective? 

JV: Depends on the client. I believe what’s on the table when guests walk in is major part of the environment. ..I think the lines of what’s used for the table setting should be a collaboration between the restaurant’s operations and their experiences, along with what the guest needs to eat their food, and what the restaurant is serving. The designers (and operations) can come to an agreement with the tabletop lines, colors, and shapes to work together to maximize the total guest experience. 

TTJ: When it comes to designing or operations which do you prefer? 

JV:  I like to be involved in the whole nine yards…as an example, I believe the even the art work in a restaurant needs to coordinate with the interior.

TTJ: At TabletopJournal, we talk a lot about branding. What is your take on branding in the area of restaurant design?

JV: In my opinion, that whole branding thing, I’m very strong on it. The issue that I run into many times is that whether you’re rebranding yourself or making a new brand for yourself is people tend to start off with hiring a chef. Then you hire your designer. 

TTJ: Is that how they always should do it?
JV: In a perfect world from my eyes, yes…an example is  Sushipop, a restaurant I designed here in the Orlando area. It starts with a chef who has a vision and the vision is taken into the space. Because of this vision I always tell my clients whether you’re going to build one restaurant or you’re going to build ten, you’ve got to build the first one with a franchise mentality. You have to build it so if you become successful and build another one, you can build it again and sell it. Then, you have it as a franchise setting. If not, you really don’t have a brand (to replicate). The food can have consistency, but there’s no personality. So now you have to retrofit and are talking about investing a lot of money into something that’s already working for you just to sell it.

TTJ: What do you see as your plans for the future? 
JV: Hopefully, one day I would love to own my own restaurant or lounge. But you have to have good food. It would be perfect to have the food and hopefully the ambiance to go with it but at least if I have to food, people will come it…everything is connected whether your eyes know that or not. You walk in and there is not a disconnection of things. That’s important when you create a brand.  

TTJ: What, in your mind, is important to consider when building or reconstructing a brand? 
JV: Going back to the disconnection, when somebody starts a brand or rebrands or whatever they do, they have too many consultants involved…there needs to be a unity between your consultants working under one umbrella. If everybody is not playing in the same sandbox, it’s just not going to work.

TTJ: What haven’t we talked about that you want people to know about you?
JV:  That I love shoes. (now, that, we had already noticed)

Joemy Vega’s website: www.deVegastudio.com

Product used by Joemy Vega in her Tabletop Challenge tabletop design:
Craft Dinnerware – Steelite                                                                                 Lady Diamond Wineglass – Arcoroc/Cardinal
Nambe’ Infinity Coasters – Steelite                                                                 Welsh Slate – Steelite
Nambe’ Three Bowl Oval Dish – Steelite                                                         WNK Ovation Flatware – Steelite
Sticky Bricks – Eastern Tabletop