Sartre is a contemporary brasserie located in the barrelhouse of an old brewery building in the gentrifying neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine (OTR), a historic working-class neighborhood of Cincinnati. The restaurant is named after Jean-Paul Sartre, the French philosopher, literary critic, & Noble Prize recipient.
“Sartre believed that “man is nothing else but what he makes of himself,” he believed in the unbridled freedom of human will. As a restaurant, Sartre exists to celebrate the style and fascination of the French, their sense of the past, and their sense of the next moment. We exist as a forum for creative freedom of expression in whatever form. Our food is expressive and communal, an intersection of experience and interest. Think of us as a French neighborhood diner that serves slow food fast.”

              
The restaurant's design earned Drawing Department & Geremia Design honorable mention at the Cincinnati Design Awards. While highlighting the existing industrial architecture, the design's salvaged fixtures and refined furnishings and finishes serve to bring this old beer hall back to life.


Another old-world detail is the use of Natural Oiled Oak floors, custom finished & supplied by Nor-Cal Floor Design, Arrigoni Woods. The European wide plank boards give the space a more expansive feel. Natural Oil finishes bring a more natural matte appearance to wood and are inherently VOC free & hypoallergenic. Commercial Oiled floors like these, take to being mopped often and actually prefer the constant build-up of protective oils.