In New York, where restaurants are as much about the space as the food (who could forget the over the top look of Buddakan by Christian Liaigre or the moody luxury of the NoMad by Jacques Garcia?), design firms can become stars in their own right for creating the right aesthetic at exactly the right time. Today, casual design fans may know the names of Taavo Somer (Freemans, ISA, Le Turtle), AvroKO (Public, Beauty & Essex, Saxon & Parole) or Roman and Williams (Upland, Lafayette, The Dutch), but there’s another group of restaurant designers—both emerging and established—who have put their stamp on some of New York’s most interesting dining interiors, largely under the radar. Here, the five design firms creating buzzy restaurants you should know.
Dekar Design
Founded in 2003 by native New Yorkers Dolores Suarez and Caroline Grant, the firm has a decidedly colorful and approachable interior aesthetic, rich with floral touches and graphic wallpaper, as seen at Claudette, Bobo, and Rosemary’s.
New World Design Builders
Designer Chris Kofitsas creates balance within his designs (ABC Kitchen, Toro NYC, Ed’s Chowder House) by incorporating plants or fruits (lemons at Ed’s Chowder House and boxwood at Toro) that complement dark woods and gleaming metals.
Parts and Labor Design
Nothing about Andrew Cohen and Jeremy Levitt’s firm is overly florid or flashy (as its nuts and bolts name would suggest), but that doesn’t mean it can’t go high-end. The firm designed the woodsy spaces for Atera in TriBeca, The Elm in Williamsburg, and the new As Is Bar in Hell’s Kitchen.
Berman Horn Studio
Founded in 2006, Berman Horn Studio has created warm, inviting interiors (backlit bottles of liquor figure heavily in their bar designs) for Char No. 4, El Quinto Pino, Maysville, and Txkito.
Rockwell Group
David Rockwell’s firm specializes in grand dining statements, usually in a large scale format. The portfolio includes Bobby Flay’s GATO, the Library at The Public Theater, the Clocktower, and the newly opened Vandal on the Lower East Side.
