The architects at Austin-based Side Angle Side
faced a challenge
: take a former, 1960s-era Hyde Park post office and turn it into a restaurant space worthy of a “Top Chef” contestant.
Arthur Furman and Annie-Laurie Grabiel, founding partners of Austin-based firm
, transformed the mid-century building into
, a French comfort food restaurant led by chef Jo Chan inside Tiny Grocer’s second location.
Although the building had its quirks, “for us, it was a slam dunk,” Furman said.
Tiny Grocer’s second location in Hyde Park opened last fall.
Photo via Likeness Studio
The interior of the post office had a minimalism to it that was easy “to breathe new life into,” Grabiel said. The team decided to keep several of the structure’s original elements, including exposed roof joints and the original floor slab.
“We just decided that would be part of the story and the history of the building,” Grabiel said.
Grabiel and Furman did add some new elements, of course. Visitors will notice new fixtures, like a corner banquette and warm, terracotta tiles. One of the most prominent changes, however, is outside the building itself, in the loading dock-turned patio.