As the title says, this painting is of an indoor/outdoor restaurant that sits off Newbury Street, in downtown Boston. It's midday. The sunlight streaming into the interior brings the outdoors into the interior, beyond the low barrier separating the tables from the sidewalk. The patrons can hear the street traffic, and the passersby on the sidewalk see an inviting environment inside that invites them in. The two tables being cleared suggest that patrons have just vacated after lunch. The punctuated white shirts of wait staff and patrons are like musical notes that break up the deep red-browns of the bar's dark interior. I especially like the soft folds on the two wait staffs' shirts. Overall, there is a softness to this painting that is more evident in the original, which was intentional because the stark dark and light nature of the scene would have otherwise been overwhelming. Finally, to me anyway, this painting has an element of sophistication in its formal structure. It makes your eye roam and explore what's going on inside, just as passersby do from the street. It's one of the reasons I like to put people in my paintings: They create natural curiosity, and engage the viewer to wonder about who they are, and what they're doing, saying and thinking.
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