First design inklings: As a teenager, I was fascinated with the design and was fixated on the grand and imposing buildings I would visit in Europe during my travels with my parents. During my junior year of high school I was a lifeguard at a local pool and there I met a student from [Brooklyn, New York’s] Pratt Institute, who I would visit on campus and absorb myself in his class projects and studies.
Mentors: Dale Chihuly, Oscar Niemeyer, I.M. Pei
First hospitality project: [While working for I.M. Pei] I was sent to Singapore for the design and construction of Raffles City. While there I was asked to design the public and hospitality spaces for the neighboring Raffles hotel, and I enjoyed it. Upon my return to New York, I planned to take time off but instead found myself thrown into the world of hospitality design.
Big break: I was at a party [in the Hamptons] and met restaurateur Philip Scotti, famous today as the owner of P.J. Clarke’s, who had just acquired a very long (200 foot) and very narrow (33 foot) space on Broadway. He had no idea what to do with it, and I suggested he build the longest bar in New York, stretching from Broadway to Mercer. That was Bar Lui, and its success in the 1980s opened the door [for me].
Industry changes: The ’80s marked the beginning of hospitality spaces as theaters. In F&B, chef Wolfgang Puck and his [former] wife Barbara Lazaroff pioneered the movement with restaurants including Chinois on Main in Santa Monica, California, and Postrio in Las Vegas. Around the same time, Ian Schrager opened the first boutique hotel, the Royalton, and chose Philippe Starck to design the property’s flashy and theatrical interiors. In the ’90s, hotels and restaurants in Las Vegas invested heavily in conceptual and themed design, where more was always more. Today, interior design is necessary for restaurants and hotels; it is one of the key elements in drawing public attention and securing success.
Career highlights: Bar Lui, China Grill in New York, and Rumjungle in Las Vegas
Secrets to success: Stay informed and aware of global trends in design, fashion, and other visual and performance arts. Share these observations with colleagues to inspire your team. Foster an atmosphere of creative exploration, and motivate your designers to explore the limits of their own creativity, without fear of judgment and failure.
Career satisfactions: It has definitely been the journey, and the opportunity
to meet and work with hugely talented people across the industry. They include chefs, hoteliers, restaurateurs, artists, and craftsmen, and last but not least the designers at Jeffrey Beers International.
