6/25/10

Surfaces

The restaurant will be designed to appear as if it has been there for 100 years.  I will be applying decorative paint techniques that give an aged appearance to all architectural elements and furniture in the space.  For the walls I have proposed a very soft creamy tone on tone technique that is applied in a way to resemble an aged plaster (sample on left).  The ceiling will be painted using the same technique but in a lighter value.  Both surfaces are finished with a tinted varnish which adds the aged appearance.  The floor will be stained in a Jacobean color (sample in middle).  This is one of my favorite stain colors because of its neutrality.  Its hue and value compliment most colors.  The furniture will be distressed in variations of the sample on the right utilizing blues, greens and off whites finished with a tinted varnish.


History of the Oven

As promised I have taken a photo of the coal-fired masonry oven located in the basement of Verde restaurant.  The oven dates back to 1910 and was originally used to cook pizza which sold for 25 cents a pie.  After the pizza restaurant was closed the oven was walled up and hidden for decades until recently when it was discovered during renovations.  The picture of the oven is deceiving.  Although the opening may seem small, the interior of the oven is enormous fitting dozens of pizzas at one time.  Coal burning ovens can reach temperatures as high as 960 degrees cooking pizzas in three minutes.  The hotter the oven the more moisture it draws out leaving a perfectly crisp pizza with a slight smokey flavor.  As stated in a previous posting, coal burning ovens are now illegal to build in New York City, however if it is an already existing structure it can still be used which makes this oven an amazing find.

6/2/10

Preliminary Designs

Charlie Verde, the owner of the soon to be Verde Restaurant, would like to create a space indicative of an old traditional Sicilian kitchen that has seen many generations of gatherings and cooking.  Below are my preliminary designs of the restaurant.




A bench will run alongside the brick wall with distressed tables and mismatched antique chairs.  On the brick wall will be hung vintage black and white family photos and chandeliers will be hung over the dining tables.



On the accent wall I am proposing an antiqued plaster decorative paint finish with an Italian Renaissance painting in an antiqued frame and sconces on either side.  The ceiling will also be an antiqued finish utilizing two different cream colors and a tinted varnish and the floor will be stained a very dark brown.

The bar and kitchen facade will be constructed of painted and distressed wood, carrera marble counter top and seeded chicken wire glass.  Details of the bar area will come soon.....

6/1/10

Salvage

There is a very limited budget for the construction and design of the restaurant so we are being as crafty as possible to keep the spending down to a minimum.  Today Charlie and I visited a building that was in the process of being gutted.  Everything in that house dated back to the late 1800's so we salvaged as much as we could from it.  Solid wood doors, decorative millwork, window weights, a stone fireplace with cast iron cover, exterior iron fence and even a fig tree outside (score!).  We are still trying for the front door pictured below.  This would be the perfect entry door for the restaurant.









In the beginning.....


I have been a professional designer for almost five years now, but restaurant design is a whole new world for me. In the upcoming weeks I will be creating the designs for a traditional Sicilian restaurant named "Verde" in the heart of Bushwick, Brooklyn. For those of you not familiar with Bushwick, it is a neighborhood in the Northern part of Brooklyn east of Williamsburg. Its population consists mainly of Latinos from the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic but more recent years have seen an increase in young Caucasian artists. I myself lived in Bushwick for a year and people thought I was crazy because it had gained a reputation for being a rough area. But I found quite the contrary. Even with gentrification staring them in the face, I found the locals to be quite warm and accepting of me.


Verde restaurant is owned by Charlie Verde, a charismatic Sicilian man who is probably one of the kindest people I have ever met. He has entrusted me to bring his vision to a reality. A very cozy, homey atmosphere where people can go to get an authentic Sicilian dining experience. Charlie recently discovered that in the basement of the restaurant there lied a gold mine. He found hidden behind a brick wall a coal burning oven. There remains I believe only six coal burning ovens in New York City and those six restaurants happen to be some of the most popular because of the amazing flavors that they give to breads and pizzas (ex. the famous Grimaldi's and Lombardi's pizza). Coal burning ovens are no longer permitted to be built, but if it is an already existing oven it can still be used.  Photos of the oven are soon to come!