To give the Founding Farmers restaurant in Tysons Corner, Virginia, real maker authenticity, GrizForm Architects had some barn builders come from Vermont to lay out a frame and hoist it up over the bar. Quirky touches abound: twigs and moss embedded in resin, the silhouette of a tree laser-cut from a sheet of steel, and a diorama of how marshmallows are made recessed into the bar counter.

The hickory entryway desk (with a clever painting that turns the host into a satyr) greets patrons who stand on some surprise texture in the form of a mosaic tile floor. The restaurant’s cookbook serves as a colorful display to the left.