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Trendy new Italian eatery is chock full of contrasting materials.
By Matthew Hall
Scarpetta, the latest New York dining establishment by celebrity chef Scott Conant, reflects the approach to Italian cuisine that he honed while at the Alto and L'Impero restaurants: solidly traditional, with strong dashes of modern interpretation. Designers at S. Russell Groves manifested that mixture of the old and new by creating a 2,300-square-foot space "that simultaneously conjures up urban Milan and rural Tuscany," said Russell Groves, principal of the New York architecture and design firm bearing his name.
The restaurant's front café features an antique mahogany bar that was ebonized to give it a contemporary edge and topped with classic white carrera marble. The marble is repeated on the floor, and offset by soft white-washed brick, reclaimed wood paneling and mercury glass pendants that add a silver glow to the space.
The main dining room is home to a retractable glass roof offset by rough-hewn timber beams. White cork, used in a random grid pattern, is complemented by elongated ochre-hued banquettes and period-inspired adjustable light sconces. Other contrasting visual elements include wall mirrors hung by belted straps, which add an industrial note to the space, and overhead lighting consisting of small, low-watt bulbs in glass-framed box fixtures that bathe the environment in a soft glow.
Scarpetta (whose name is derived from an Italian expression for the shape bread takes when used to soak up a dish) represents quite a change for a space that's on the edge of New York's meatpacking district. The West 14th Street locale previously housed a bar called The Village Idiot, which was best-known for its country-and-western jukebox and $5 pitchers of Bud, the Village Voice noted in its review of Scarpetta.
"These days," Robert Sietsema wrote, "you wouldn't recognize the space: the skylit dining room floods with warm light as the sun sets, the tables are well spaced and a friendly staff keeps the meal on an even keel." Scarpetta has also won praise on a national scale: Esquire magazine placed Conant's establishment on its most recent annual list of the 20 best new restaurants in America.
Project Participants:
Client:
Scarpetta, New York: Scott Conant, chef/owner
Architecture/Interior Design:
S. Russell Groves, New York: S. Russell Groves, principal; Neal Beckstedt, studio and design director
Outside Design Consultants:
Mary Ann Hay, Syska & Hennessy, New York (lighting)
General Contractor:
Red One Construction, New York
Bar Millwork:
Innovative Tile & Marble, Baltimore
Dining Tables:
SRG, New York
Finishes:
Vermont Wildwoods, Marshfield, Vt.
Aged Woods, York, Pa.
Globus Cork, Bronx, N.Y.
Bendheim, New York
Flooring:
Walker Zanger, Sylmar, Calif.
Haywood Berk Floor, New York
Lighting:
Derapage Design, San Francisco
Rewire, Los Angeles
O'lampia, New York
Orange, Los Angeles
Circa Lighting, Savannah, Ga.
Paint:
Pratt & Lambert, Cleveland