The Cheesecake Factory’s longtime design boss says it looks nothing like the Trump White House

Former President Barack Obama is not a fan of the gilded decor changes President Donald Trump has made to the White House since his return to the power. “There’s gold everywhere,” Obama told Democrats at a rally in Cleveland on Saturday ahead of the midterm elections. “What’s up with the gold? Everything — more gold!”

Then came the punchline: “He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”

The crowd laughed and the clip quickly blanketed the internet. A small culture war skirmish quickly went through its motions online — was the quip elitist? — and Trump on Monday defended both his love for renovation projects and his design style. “For you to say it’s a Cheesecake Factory, that just shows why you were a lousy president,” Trump told reporters.

One of the key architects of the Cheesecake Factory aesthetic said he doesn’t find the comparison funny either.

“I think it’s a little bit sad that the pettiness of politics would create that sound bite, knowing all our challenges going on in the country today,” Rick McCormack, the restaurant chain’s former longtime vice president of design, said in an interview.

The Saddam part of Obama’s gag had precedent. Long before Trump’s current redecorating spree — which has seen the Rose Garden torn out and paved over for a patio, the East Wing demolished for construction of a new ballroom, and the West Wing barnacled over with gold accents and gilded frames — Peter York, author of “Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World’s Most Colorful Despots,” likened Trump’s flashy design style to that of the former Iraqi leader, noting they and other strongmen share a passion for gold, marble and portraits of themselves .

Sail Loeb/AFP/Getty Images/File

But McCormack, who is on a first-name basis with the restaurant he helped decorate, bridled at hearing the Cheesecake Factory dragged into things.

“Cheesecake wasn’t covered with gold appliqués and things like that. It really is two different environments,” McCormack said. “It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, this has shiny things on the wall. Cheesecake has shiny things in it. Let’s compare the two,’ but that’s to someone who really is not knowing what they’re talking about.”

McCormack credited David Overton — who opened the first Cheesecake Factory in 1978 in Beverly Hills, California, to showcase his mother’s baked goods — for devising the aesthetic the company is still known for at its more than 200 locations: affordable (if now dated) opulence and maximalism — traits similarly on display in the restaurants’ notoriously lengthy menus.

McCormack had a hand in designing some of the company’s first half-dozen restaurants as a contractor, then joined Cheesecake Factory full-time in 1995, a few years after the chain went public. As a new employee, McCormack was tasked with launching the company’s first in-house design department , working for 13 years to spread the distinctive look from a handful of restaurants to new locations across the country.

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images

McCormack rolled out floors made of limestone or granite, walls that were hand-plastered, and lighting that highlighted the grand room’s distinctive features, such as murals on high ceilings and grand columns. Things felt at once Egyptian and European, with a touch of Las Vegas flair.

“Dave always wanted a certain sense of grandeur when he walked in,” McCormack said. “We really wanted to have you walk in and be somewhat surprised that that you could dine there and afford it.”

While representatives for the Cheesecake Factory did not respond to requests for comment, McCormack would prefer if Obama left his old employer out of his metaphors. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Enough people like the design where it’s made Cheesecake a phenomenal success over the years,” McCormack said.

McCormack admits design styles have changed considerably since the 1990s, but he believes the chain’s long-lasting success is partly due to the extravagant dining spaces he helped create. Many Americans can fondly recall hosting special dinners and family celebrations amid the restaurant’s theatrical interiors, which makes him proud.

“Even though on paper, at first you might not think all these elements should go together, but I think the way that they were packaged with this common palette, it drew them all together,” McCormack said.

Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Part of the reason McCormack thinks most restaurants don’t look like the Cheesecake Factory these days is because it’s simply too expensive to build anything that comes close. “The price of construction has just skyrocketed, and to build a restaurant now is just almost price prohibitive,” he said. “You got to be really smart before you’re spending the money and it’s a challenge.”

McCormack doesn’t see any similarities between the work he and Overton did in the 1990s to the choices Trump is making today. He knows whoever moves into the White House after Trump will probably rip things out to make their own changes, so he’d prefer people talked about more important things and refrain from political attacks. “Everyone has different tastes, and not every design is going to be universally liked, and nor should it be,” he said.

“I just don’t know who gave them that quote and why they thought that was a good one to use, but it’s a little bit sad,” McCormack added. “But the good news is we’re talking about design right now.”

前总统奥巴马并不喜欢特朗普重返白宫后对白宫进行的金碧辉煌的装饰。“到处都是金子，”奥巴马在周六克利夫兰举行的中期选举集会上对民主党人说，“这些金子是怎么回事？到处都是金子！”

然后，他抛出了笑点：“他把白宫弄得就像萨达姆·侯赛因开了一家芝士蛋糕工厂一样。”

人群哄堂大笑，这段视频迅速在网络上疯传。一场小规模的文化战争很快在网上爆发——这句玩笑话是否带有精英主义色彩？——周一，特朗​​普为自己对翻新工程的热爱和设计风格辩护。“你说这是芝士蛋糕工厂，这正好说明了你为什么是个糟糕的总统，”特朗普对记者说。

Cheesecake Factory 美学理念的主要缔造者之一表示，他也不觉得这种比较好笑。

“考虑到我们国家目前面临的所有挑战，我认为政治的琐碎之处竟然会产生这样的言论，这有点令人难过，”该连锁餐厅的前长期设计副总裁里克·麦考马克在一次采访中说道。

奥巴马拿萨达姆开玩笑并非没有先例。早在特朗普如今大兴土木、大动干戈地改造白宫之前——包括拆除玫瑰园改建成露台、拆除东翼建造新宴会厅、以及用金色装饰和镀金画框装点西翼——《独裁者风格：世界最富个性的暴君的生活方式》一书的作者彼得·约克就将特朗普浮夸的设计风格与这位前伊拉克领导人相提并论，并指出他们和其他强人一样，都对黄金、大理石和自己的画像情有独钟。

Sail Loeb/AFP/Getty Images/文件

但麦考马克与他曾参与装修的餐厅关系非常密切，一听到芝士蛋糕工厂也被牵扯进来就感到很不高兴。

“芝士蛋糕餐厅并没有用金箔装饰之类的东西点缀。这真的是两种截然不同的环境，”麦考马克说。“人们很容易说，‘哦，这家餐厅的墙上有闪闪发光的东西。芝士蛋糕餐厅里也有闪闪发光的东西。让我们来比较一下这两家餐厅吧。’但这种说法是给那些真正不懂行的人听的。”

麦考马克将公司至今在 200 多家分店中仍为人熟知的美学理念归功于大卫·奥弗顿——他于 1978 年在加利福尼亚州比佛利山庄开设了第一家芝士蛋糕工厂，以展示他母亲烘焙的食品——这种美学理念体现在价格适中（尽管现在看来有些过时）的奢华和极致主义中，而这些特点也同样体现在餐厅出了名的冗长的菜单中。

麦考马克曾以承包商的身份参与设计了公司最初的六家餐厅，之后在芝士蛋糕工厂上市几年后的1995年正式加入公司。作为一名新员工，麦考马克的任务是组建公司首个内部设计部门，并在接下来的13年里，将公司独特的风格从少数几家餐厅推广到全国各地的新店。

Patrick T. Fallon/彭博社/盖蒂图片社

Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images

麦考马克铺设了石灰石或花岗岩地板，墙壁采用手工粉刷，灯光设计突显了大厅的独特之处，例如高高的天花板上的壁画和宏伟的立柱。整体风格既有埃及风情，又有欧洲韵味，还带有一丝拉斯维加斯的时尚气息。

“戴夫一直希望餐厅能给人一种高贵典雅的感觉，”麦考马克说。“我们也希望顾客走进餐厅时，会感到有些惊喜，因为没想到​​自己竟然能在这里用餐，而且还能负担得起。”

尽管芝士蛋糕工厂的代表没有回应置评请求，但麦考马克更希望奥巴马不要在他的比喻中提及他的老东家。“美是主观的。正是因为有足够多的人喜欢这种设计，芝士蛋糕工厂这些年来才取得了巨大的成功，”麦考马克说道。

麦考马克承认，自上世纪90年代以来，设计风格发生了巨大变化，但他认为，该连锁餐厅经久不衰的部分原因在于他参与打造的奢华用餐空间。许多美国人至今仍能津津乐道地回忆起在餐厅如诗如画的装潢中举办特别晚宴和家庭聚会的场景，这让他倍感自豪。

“虽然乍一看，你可能觉得这些元素不应该放在一起，但我认为正是因为它们采用了这种共同的色调，才使它们完美地融合在一起，”麦考马克说道。

Mel Melcon/洛杉矶时报/Getty Images

麦考马克认为，如今大多数餐厅看起来不像芝士蛋糕工厂的部分原因是，建造一家类似的餐厅成本太高。“建筑成本飞涨，现在开一家餐厅几乎是天价，”他说。“你必须在花钱之前非常精打细算，这确实是个挑战。”

麦考马克认为他和奥弗顿在上世纪90年代所做的工作与特朗普如今的选择没有任何相似之处。他知道，无论谁在特朗普之后入主白宫，都可能会推翻重来，进行一番改造，所以他更希望人们谈论更重要的事情，而不是进行政治攻击。“每个人的品味都不同，并非每一种设计都能得到所有人的喜爱，也不应该如此，”他说。

“我不知道是谁给他们提供了那句话，也不知道他们为什么觉得那句话合适，但这有点令人遗憾，”麦考马克补充道。“不过好消息是，我们现在正在讨论设计。”