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Partner-in-Charge: David Sherman
Contractor: Artego Inc.
Photographer: Catherine Tighe
Completed: 1996
This restaurant was designed and built in the heart of the East Village restaurant row for a family of exiled Tibetans who wished to pool their significant experiences in various Manhattan restaurants into a family-run operation which would become a home to their wide network of acquaintances and supporters. A limited budget and a lack of restaurant construction experience combined to make this job a tremendous challenge; the
restaurant was scheduled to open only four months from the time the Architects were commissioned. Zoning and building code obstacles were numerous, as were the difficulties in developing ansul systems, kitchen exhausts and a ducted central air-conditioning and heating system, all for a final construction budget of less than $ 90,000. A materials palette was created out of naturally-oiled cedar planks (to make the bar and benches, and to conceal an existing steel stair guardrail), along with rough plaster and a hand-ground brick wall. The colors were derived from traditional Tibetan paints, and the clients were able to obtain Tibetan rugs and a Fortuny hanging lamp from friends in the trade. In the rear of the restaurant, a new window was installed to view a trellised garden, increasing the sense of perspective as soon as one enters. Along with the oak storefront with operable windows, the overall mood of the interior palette helps to establish a connection with the client?s Tibetan culture, while expanding the sources to acknowledge this lively restaurant?s eclectic menu and clientele. The ambience of the restaurant has been very favorably reviewed in New York magazine, the New York Press newspaper, and Zagat?s restaurant guide series.
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