Craft
New York, New York
Bentel & Bentel, Architects

A warm environment provides an elegant setting for an uncomplicated approach to food

© Eduard Hueber

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

The chef and owner of this restaurant wished to present a sophisticated but uncomplicated approach to food, which explored the full flavor of each ingredient on the seasonal menu, serving items unadorned on separate plates placed at the center of each table for all to share. Working within the wreck of a former department store built in 1886, a restaurant was created with 130 seats, wine storage for 3,500 bottles, and a 2,200-square-foot kitchen, spread out over the first floor and cellar of the existing building. A simple yet texturally rich interior was shaped to integrate with the food and service functionally and metaphorically.

Five distinct elements are apparent within the narrow, long space. A rectilinear steel and bronze wine vault, a curved walnut and leather-paneled wall, a space-expanding triptych, the existing terra-cotta clad columns, and amber-hued, bare bulb chandeliers. Just as the cool, straight rigidity of the two-story wine vault accentuates the warm, curved softness of the leather paneled wall facing it, so the rough matte texture of the wood fiber ceiling panels intensifies the reflective surface of the bronze reveals and column capitals. To unite the new and the old, the architects preserved the terra cotta block-clad columns from the original dilapidated space.

All furnishings and fittings, including the cherry dining tables and bronze bathroom sinks and hardware, were designed by the architects. The absence of any protective coating (other than beeswax) on any of the materials, as well as the use of imbuia (brazilian walnut), steel, and leather, promotes their natural ability to age with grace.

Formal name of Project:
Craft

Location:
New York City

Gross square footage:
5,425 sq. ft

Total contruction cost:
$1.7 million

Owner:
Foodcraft,LLC
Tom Colicchio, principal

Architect:
Bentel & Bentel, Architects/Planners AIA LLP
22 Buckram Road
Locust Valley, NY 11560
516.676.2880 tel
516.676.2141 fax
www.bentelandbentel.com