Not months. Not weeks. Just Days Away.

FINALLY.

This has been a passion project for both John and me.

For John, it has been the opportunity to create the restaurant he has always envisioned: food centered around the hearth and open flame, a wine list that reaches beyond Rhône varietals, and a sophisticated cocktail program.

For me, it has been about something entirely different—finding a way to blend a digital art space within a hospitality environment and make it feel natural, meaningful, and welcoming.

ART by ispanskyletcik, CollArt, Shambambykli

Over the course of my career, I have participated in more than ten restaurant openings, beginning with TGI Fridays in the 1980s and continuing through the girl & the fig, the fig café, and several projects in between. Yet Dead Letter will be my final restaurant opening, and without question, it has been the most challenging.

Since last November, it has been a whirlwind of imagining, creating, building, revising, and making thousands of decisions—some small, some significant. It has also required something new from me: learning how to step back from the lead role, trusting others, and finding balance between tradition and innovation.

Executive Chef Jeremy butchering fish.

In just six days, we will open our doors to friends and family for practice services. It is our opportunity to work through the things we don't yet know, refine the details, and give both our dining room and kitchen teams the real-world experience that only comes from serving guests.

Alongside the restaurant, PROTO.logue has quietly been taking shape.

I originally started The Curator's Notebook  as a way to think through ideas and document the process of building this project. Again and again, I found myself returning to the same conclusion: no matter how much changes, hospitality remains the foundation. The goal is not simply to serve food or exhibit art. The goal is to create a place where people want to spend time—a place for conversation, storytelling, discovery, laughter, and community.

I believe we have created something special.

The building's history remains present. There are subtle nods to the post office that once occupied this space. The kitchen has been designed around tools and techniques that allow our chefs new creative possibilities. And woven throughout the experience is a carefully considered digital art program.

Every decision mattered: colors, lighting, fabrics, texture, acoustics, comfort, pacing, and flow. Collectively, these choices shape how a room feels long before a guest takes their first bite or notices a piece of art on the wall.

We are already surrounded by screens every day—phones, tablets, televisions, computers, billboards. Most people come to restaurants hoping to disconnect from all of that. So the question became: how can digital art enhance an experience rather than distract from it?

I hope what we have created does exactly that.

Throughout Dead Letter and PROTO.logue, we will be sharing more than 300 works by over 100 artists from around the world. Over the past five years, I have had the privilege of collecting work from photographers, painters, digital artists, coders, animators, and artists working with emerging technologies. What unites them is not the medium they use, but their willingness to tell stories, explore ideas, and share something deeply personal through their work.

The screens may be digital, but the creativity, curiosity, vulnerability, and humanity behind the work are not.

In a few days, all of these pieces finally come together.

The food.

The cocktails.

The art.

The history.

The people.

After months of construction, planning, problem-solving, delays, revisions, and anticipation, the moment is almost here.

We cannot wait to welcome you.

See you soon.

— Sondra