66
New York City
Richard Meier & Partners

Richard Meier sticks to white (with touches of red) for a chinese restaurant in New York City?s Tribeca neighborhood

By Suzanne Stephens

© Scott Frances/Esto

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Since 66 opened last spring, its Shanghai-chic cuisine by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Minimalist modern interior by Richard Meier, FAIA, have garnered the fervent attention restaurateurs crave. In this case, the clients are both the chef, Vongerichten, and Phil Suarez, also one of the investors in the Richard Meier—česigned Perry Street Apartment towers in the West Village.

Since Vongerichten and Suarez already operate a slew of restaurants uptown (Jean Georges, Vong, JoJo), the two decided on the ground floor of the Textile Building, a toned-down, Classical-style structure in Tribeca. Designed in 1901 by Henry Hardenbergh, the architect of the Dakota apartments and the Plaza Hotel, the landmarked building is not too far from Odeon, a pioneer of downtown arty-elegant restaurants, which opened almost 25 years ago. During this time, Tribeca has become a residential-loft paradise catering to the affluent who like the casual lifestyle with concierges.

Meier divided the rectangular space into three main sections around a central entrance vestibule, defined by a 12-foot-high, curved-frosted-glass wall. Floor-to-ceiling frosted-glass panels partition the various areas, which are further subdivided by built-in stainless-steel-mesh cubicles with wood-panel and leather banquettes. Behind the entrance vestibule, a 44-foot-long communal table seating 40 acts as the orienting locus in the restaurant, dramatized by a row of red silk banners hung from a slot in the dropped acoustic-plaster ceiling. The bar at the back of the communal table is concealed behind a frosted-glass wall, through which the bartenders? shadowy movements and the bottles? contours offer only ghostly traces of their presence. In the dining area, the kitchen can be glimpsed through four glass water tanks containing vividly polychromatic fish. The immaculately organized kitchen is devoted mainly to the final stages of cooking; Halogen downlights prevent a harsh glare from being admitted to the dining room.

See the December 2003 issue of Architectural Record for full article.

Location:
New York City

Client:
Suarez Restaurant Group
– Phil Suarez

Jean Georges Enterprises
–  Jean Georges Vongerichten
– Daniel Del Vecchio
– Lois Freedman

Owners Representative:
Gorton Associates, Inc.
– Ray Del Savio
– Ed Vega

Architect:
Richard Meier & Partners
www.richardmeier.com