COV Restaurant

Before

A painfully narrow strip beside Minnesota’s most upscale shopping mall, overlooking a parking lot instead of a bay — and a restaurateur who wanted his guests to feel like they’d stepped onto a Nantucket porch.

The Idea

Root the patio in a legacy. When no nursery could supply the gnarled specimen the vision demanded, a twelve-inch Kentucky coffeetree was bought off a homeowner’s front lawn and planted so the classic white pergola seems to have grown around it for decades.

After

Facing porch swings hang on rope, crushed New Hampshire seashells ring the fire bowl, and Phantom screens with clear vinyl walls blur where inside ends. The client’s verdict: “They nailed it” — and plans to replicate the design in other cities.