Washington, DC-based fast casual pizza concept &pizza from Michael Lastoria has unveiled its first New York outpost in NoMad. Exuding a hyperlocal aesthetic against a black and white palette, the space features designs from Jeffrey White of local firm EAU Design, who conceived an unconventional design for the restaurant using a variety of distinctly New York materials.
Custom-cut subway tiles, overlapping linear LED lights, exposed steel columns, and a floating communal table are installed, while muralist Rubin and graffiti artist Bisco Smith have each punctuated the space with respective mixed media art installations. Rubin’s mural graces the walls of the dining room, comprising his signature touches like circles and abstract/geometric landscapes. The simplified piece also marks Rubin’s inaugural usage of wood as a medium. Entitled “Electric Nights,” Smith’s creation for the restroom corridor explores the history of the neighborhood when it was referred to as the Tenderloin.
“A time and place where brothels, live music, nightlife, corruption, police, and crime all came together to color the streets of New York—the name ‘Electric Nights’ is a reference to the neon lights that ran down Broadway illuminating the dark side of the city at that time,” Smith says.
