The Bien Trucha Group, located in Geneva, Illinois, owns four popular restaurants in the western suburbs of Chicago. In keeping with their commitment to quality food and atmosphere, their recently opened restaurants, Quiubo and Santo Cielo, feature d&b audiotechnik sound reinforcement systems.
“When I was at Burning Man, our camp had an art car that used d&b loudspeakers,” explains Rodrigo Cano, COO and partner for Bien Trucha Group. “I was absolutely blown away by the audio quality – fell in love with the system. I realized our customers should have the same audio experience. Upon my return I started working with John Simshauser, Audio Logic Systems (ALS), to see what we could put together for Quiubo, which was opening a few months later.”
Quiubo, in Naperville, Illinois, is a compact but airy space. The entrance opens into a lively bar and waiting area with a long dining space to the right. The zoned distributed system is divided into the bar, indoor and outdoor dining areas, all comprising d&b xS-Series loudspeakers.
“Rodrigo’s goal was to install the highest quality music system that would offer even coverage and plenty of headroom in the most visually unobtrusive way possible,” explains Simshauser, Director of Operations at ALS. “The size of the 5S loudspeaker is deceptive, people are amazed at the sound levels it produces. The zoned system allows them to crank it up a bit in the bar area when needed with the 12S-SUB adding additional punch.”
Shortly thereafter, Cano and his family started working on their next project, a rooftop lounge and restaurant located a few blocks down from Quiubo. Santo Cielo, loosely translated as “Good Heavens”, occupies the top floor of the newly built Hotel Indigo, which is now the tallest building in downtown Naperville.
“Not only did we receive tons of compliments on the sound at Quiubo but we also played the d&b system 24/7 for more than a year and never had a problem,” adds Cano. “When it came time to design the system for Santo Cielo, I knew we needed to use d&b again. You need a system you can rely on.”
Santo Cielo features a dining room, a private room that can also handle overflow guests on busy nights, and a bar and lounge space. The restaurant is surrounded by three panel windows that can be retracted two-thirds of the way downward, creating an open air dining space bordered by rails when weather permits.
Cano and Simshauser created a five-zone system that keeps patrons immersed in the atmosphere of Santo Cielo. The two zones covering the bar and lounge area are made up of wall-mounted d&b 5S loudspeakers, four distributed throughout each zone. Weekend nights feature DJ music and dancing. As a result, a 12S-SUB is tucked away in a corner to provide the driving beat a late-night nightclub environment demands.
“Once again, the d&b loudspeakers are visually discreet while providing extremely high quality sound,” says Simshauser. “After the diners leave, the restaurant converts into a lounge atmosphere – which is easily carried out throughout each zone. If one area prefers to tone it down a bit, it can be easily modified to their needs. It’s flexible and attractive – exactly what Rodrigo envisioned.”
“People wonder why we go to such lengths to create a musical atmosphere for our customers,” concludes Cano. “Installing d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers is above and beyond what people expect, but that is what these restaurants are about – offering the best dining and entertainment experience possible. Music plays an important role in our accomplishing that. It would not be the same without these systems.”
SANTO CIELO IMAGES
QUIUBO IMAGES
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