RestaurantIndianapolis · Redesign now open
KTGY redesigns Dean's Steak & Seafood at JW Marriott Indianapolis
A Midwestern steakhouse redesigned around one hotelier's life, with family letters, photographs and deep-red booths along a long, unfolding plan.
Dean's Steak & Seafood, inside JW Marriott Indianapolis, is named after hotelier Dean White, father of White Lodging founder Bruce White. When KTGY took on the redesign, the brief was less about a fashionable steakhouse and more about honouring a man who, as interior design principal Gina Deary puts it, saw luxury as the reward after a hard day's work: a good steak, family time, giving back.
So the story comes first. Photographs, handwritten letters, business papers and memorabilia from the family archive run through the rooms, tracing his path from Whiteco to White Lodging. The look borrows from the classic American steakhouse, with rich wood, brass, low light and jewel tones, but kept current rather than period.
The long, linear plan works as a sequence. You arrive to a display of steaks from Brush Creek Ranch in Saratoga, Wyoming, move into a moody bar, past a glowing oyster bar and deep-red booths, and on to ever more intimate rooms, ending in private dining. Watch for the wine display's chevron pattern, drawn from Midwestern truck tyre tracks.
This is an interview with the designer, so it reads warmly; worth a look if you're staying at the JW or want a steak with some family history attached.
Our summary of a story from Supper, published 19 October 2026. Read the original
3 photos
From Supper