The team behind Tokyo Record Bar and Niche Niche have launched two new F&B concepts in New York: Heroes, a dining option centered on shared plates, and Pearl Box, an intimate cocktail bar with 1970s influences.
Located in a former carriage house in Soho, the three-floor venue now offers a blend of entertainment and culinary exploration.
The first floor of Heroes sets the stage with its main dining room, while the second and third levels are dedicated to Pearl Box, with the second floor housing its bar room and the top level unfolding into a moody lounge.
Pearl Box
Design inspiration
Owned and operated by Ariel Arce, Aaron Lirette, and Kenneth Crum, Heroes pays tribute to the everyday heroes who have inspired them—from hospitality icons like Julia Child and Thomas Keller to figures like Diana Vreeland and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The name also nods to the idea of a hero’s banquet, a shared meal that brings people together in celebration of food and fellowship.
Designers Helena Barquet and Fabiana Faria of Coming Soon crafted the interiors of the space, embracing a futuristic modernist aesthetic with lavender and burnt sienna highlights, paired with dark wood accents.
Heroes restaurant
A bespoke bar stands out on the first floor, while a mural by Indiana Hoover—inspired by Salvador Dali’s surrealist cookbook Les Dîners de Gala—depicts the various aforementioned heroes. The space’s strong focus on wine is enhanced by the work of Studio Pilens, which created wine storage installations and a unique sommelier stage.
“Heroes is our modernist bistro, crayons on the tables, lots of dishes on the tables shared over a bottle of wine and friends,” says Heroes and Pearl Box owner Ariel Arce. “After dinner you head up to the bar room for a Martini and then follow up the mirrored staircase for an end of night Kiki.”
Pearl Box bar and lounge
Crowning the vertical eatery is Pearl Box, an intimate bi-level space inspired by Charlotte Perriand’s iconic Les Arcs project, which is “an incredible ski resort she designed in the 1960s,” says Coming Soon founder Helena Barquet. “The wooden walls were the starting point and we sourced her original light fixtures for the walls.”
A 1970s aesthetic pulses throughout, anchored by a vintage Willy Rizzo bar and enveloped in deep red hues.
“Ariel is a very warm host who wants everyone to have a good time,” Barquet adds. “She also showed us these incredible photos taken by her mom of 1970s New York nightlife that really captured the glamour we were hoping to get a piece of. We hoped the vintage bar and all black rounded furniture captured a little bit of that decadent mood—a mood for a secret.”
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