Design & Dish: January 2014

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Year of the Horse

I had lunch at Shun Lee West this week as a sort of pre-celebration of the Chinese New Year on January 31. The lunch was courtesy of Ford, which is having its own year-long party for the Mustang, turning 50 on April 17, 2014. It's certainly a stroke of luck when a major anniversary for an iconic car named after a horse is aligned with that year's Chinese Zodiac symbol.

Shun Lee didn't disappoint. Not only were the steamed dumplings and lo mein delicious, but the space, which I hadn't been to in possibly two decades, was also festively outfitted with all the Zodiac signs, some internally lit and hung from the ceiling.

There was even a giant fortune cookie at the end. Mine read: "Your life will be a blur. In a good way." I'll take that. Happy new year!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Watermark at the Seaport

Wid Chapman has designed more than a dozen Manhattan restaurants, the standouts being both locations of Tamarind (only the TriBeCa outpost is open now). His latest eatery is Watermark Bar. I haven't been yet, but I look forward to a visit in the spring, since it's right on the water on Pier 15, which, like the rest of the South Street Seaport, is getting back on its feet after Hurricane Sandy. Interior Design magazine has begun a great video series of designers giving virtual walk-throughs of their projects. Here's the video of Wid discussing Watermark.

Watermark Bar. Photo by Paul Johnson.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Friends or...Frenemies?

West 50th Street in midtown Manhattan is home to two new fast-casual eateries, Melt Shop and the Little Beet. Both are well-lit and colorful, with some nice design moments, which ordinarily is a very good thing. But these two well-lit and colorful spaces are smack next door to each other.

But there's more. Both places have the same exact chair throughout: the Marais A by Xavier Pauchard (which can be found at Design Within Reach).

Granted, this is a popular chair, especially where sturdiness and easy cleaning are needed, like in high-traffic midtown lunch spots. But I still find it a bit unusual. Seems like each restaurant got the Marais in a custom color (yellow for Melt, purple for Beet), but I'm still scratching my head as to whether this was an intentional similarity or a crazy coink-i-dink. Let me know if you know!