Grand Opening for Jake's Garden at Sav's Grill was held on Friday, March 26th. It was such a pleasure to have nice weather and to finally be able to enjoy the space with others as it was intended. There were over a hundred people there over the evening celebrating the event and safely enjoying a public event for the first time in a very long time. The garden is named after Jake Gibbs, former third district councilman, supporter of trees in the community, fan of lilac's, supporter of local businesses, and buddy to Sav. What better way to celebrate Jake's life than to memorialize him in a local business where the garden is at the heart of the experience.
The design brief is for an arbor like space that produces an interior-exterior garden side experience that allows for exterior dining and social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. It is sure to become a community gathering destination that provides an exceptional space to compliment Sav's exceptional West African Cuisine and specialty ice creams. Now that Sav's has a liquor licence, it will hopefully the be the place of choice for hanging out with friends and meeting other Lexingtonians. Based on the opening night and the crowd the next evening enjoying live music, it is a great success!
We described the project in the beginning as something that would be comfortable and would grab the attention of traffic on Main Street and this has been delivered and some. There is at least one person each day who has stopped by in the latter parts of construction or since the opening to take photos of the space. One woman said that she pulled over to take photos and "now she wants to come back to eat and simply hang out in this wonderful space." We hope others have the same reaction and that Sav's benefits from an enhanced dining experience where patrons are dining in the garden, Jake's Garden.
Design Team: Brian Richter and Martin Summers
Cedar Skin and Table Fabrication: Brian Richter and Martin Summers with the support and generosity of shop space and equipment use courtesy of Matthew Brooks and
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Structural Consultant: Luckett & Farley
Contractor: Dudley Burke
Lighting Consultant: Heather Libonati of Luminesce Design, Marina Del Rey
Lumber: Congelton Lumber