A Hip, New Restaurant Next to MoMA Offers Diners a Feast for the Eyes

A successful restaurant in New York must be “yummy,” according to Lionel Ohayon. The designer isn’t simply referring to the food, however. Rather, it’s the entire experience that comes from carefully combining lighting, acoustics, materiality, layout, visual impact, and a sense of discovery, together compelling diners to return time and again. “What are yummy rooms?” he asks rhetorically. “They’re the enduring restaurants that have lasted forever, and people just know that they want to spend time in them. It’s so much to do with the entire package.”

That’s exactly what ICRAVE intended for 53, an already buzzy Midtown restaurant developed by Altamarea Group and helmed by Singaporean chef Akmal Anuar. Its prime location is nestled at the base of Ateliers Jean Nouvel’s 53 West 53, a much-publicized residential tower that rises 82 stories into the Manhattan skyline as a series of carbon-gray shards, and accommodates part of the recent expansion of the adjoining Museum of Modern Art.

Read the full article from Interior Design here.