Exclusive Interview: Beauty in the Journey with Aimee Olexy

Nicolette Brunetti
Oct 24, 2017
4 min read

As one of the most acclaimed restaurant owners in the Philadelphia fine dining scene, Aimee Olexy knows a thing or two about the beauty in the journey. It has been nearly six years since she opened Talula’s Garden alongside restaurateur Stephen Starr. Talula’s Garden embodies the charm of the Washington Square neighborhood with a walk-up garden and a pretty pink cheese bar inside.

More recently, she opened a new restaurant in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood called The Love with co-owner Starr, opening this fall. While sitting at a corner booth inside The Love, Aimee spoke with me about her inspiration for Talula’s Garden, her thought process for the aesthetics of the restaurant, and the feeling she wants every guest to have when experiencing her restaurants for the first time. She even touched upon her brand new project and her inspiration for the aesthetics behind The Love.

Aimee Olexy sitting in a cozy corner of her new restaurant scheduled to open this fall, The Love

What inspired you most when creating the idea of Talula's Garden?

I do fall in love with the feeling a space gives. I’ll pick a place that has bad bones but has a good feeling. That feeling for me comes from the sense of place - the neighborhood, the town, the village, the corner.

Can you tell us more about your vision for the space?

I see a mom strollering her baby down the street and I see the future of the sense of community that a restaurant could bring. There’s a beautiful thing about that for me. Talula’s Garden was an area that I knew very well, and I loved the space of the restaurant specifically- the huge, high ceilings, the outdoor space. I was also drawn to the park across the street, and the fact that it’s an interior street. I thought to myself, “How pretty.” It reminded me of parking off the street, walking by, and coming into a restaurant that has a garden and leads you into a space with a big open atrium and big windows. When I say space, it’s more of a sense of place than an architectural term.

How do you keep up with the transition of seasonal ingredients to make beautiful dishes?

My work and my life blend. They are one thing. I don’t tire for a second of what I do. I’m always thinking about food, plates, herbs, and what would be nice together. Staying in constant inspiration will always be a combination of the guests and staff. I listen to the iteration of what the chefs talk about. From the guests’ perspective, if someone’s traveled and they say, “Aimee, I think you would have loved this restaurant. It was so pretty. The driveway when you drove up was just covered in dandelions.” I start thinking, “Oh, cool, dandelions. Dandelions are edible, dandelions are a great green, they’re in season…" It’s just cyclical in that way.

What makes an experience at Talula's Garden so memorable?

For me, it’s like a mantra now. I like the space to help people feel like themselves in it. I’m very sensitive to that. I tend to like things that feel worn in because I feel like human beings have sculpted how you use it. I configure it with that in mind, but that’s like a testing philosophy. I try to think about it from the perspective of the people who are going to use it. This is an example right here: I love this pintuck. It’s like something you have in your house. For me, if I sit on this, it’s a totally different feeling than if I were to sit on pleather, leather, vinyl, or something else. For me, it’s that household touch. That’s a warmth that I go for. My number one goal is to give people a place to act like themselves. Talula’s Garden has so many charming touches- the mismatched plates, outdoor seating in the garden, and lights strung romantically down the wall to name a few.

What element signifies the heart of Talula's Garden?

The outdoor garden space is the heart. It’s undeniable that you have to go through there to exit and enter. The fact that it’s a garden space off of the sidewalk but still inside the city gives the illusion of a secret garden. There’s so many other nooks that I love. My love of food is going to be represented in the cheese bar inside where there’s a huge slab of granite where we make the cheese courses. So that for me is my thing. There’s something about the garden that’s a very natural drama and that will always be a favorite touch for me.

What new aesthetics can we expect to see in The Love that you've never done before and why did you choose to incorporate them?

There are some people in the food world that want to go forward and progress. For me, I feel like I’m always breaking new ground by looking back. I’m always trying to create that through comfort. I’m always wanting to make people feel at ease, comfortable, and cozy. In The Love, there are plants and flowers. It gives the place a natural feeling. I wanted to try to get to know the neighborhood. There are cars parked outside and people on the phone. It’s crazy and hectic. I wanted to respond to that on overload. We chose pintucked cushions so guests can feel like they’re at home on their favorite sofa.

Everything is focused on warmth. All the wood is warm-toned and worn in. I think if it feels more worn in. It’s comfortable. We’re hanging a big tapestry. There’s rugs, real flame candles, and curtains. The chairs have a wicker bottom on them. I try to study comfort. The beauty for me was studying that. The little touches were the lighting tones. The curtains are see-through but enough to protect you from the light. I didn’t choose the menu from an office in the sky. I was right here with everyone. The glassware isn’t a single line of glassware either- they just feel nice to drink out of. I’m trying to make people delicious food and drinks. I want them to say, “Thank you for giving me two hours of relaxation.”