Since 2012, when David Chang’s Momofuku brand opened in Toronto, locally based DesignAgency has been the go-to firm behind some of the restaurateur and chef’s most notable F&B haunts. Chang’s righthand woman Marguerite Mariscal, the recently named CEO of Momofuku, and DesignAgency’s founding partner Anwar Mekhayech have mapped out a fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship that has launched five properties under the brand in Toronto, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and New York, with more on the boards, including a recently announced project in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport. Throughout it all, Mariscal and Mekhayech have discovered a shorthand when it comes to developing restaurants that require a distinct, considered, and precise approach. These multifaceted spaces reveal what can happen when a design firm and brand work in tandem to ultimately create something truly exceptional. Here, the pair discuss the nuances behind their design partnership, as well as the importance of trust.
Your first project was the Momofuku in Toronto, a sprawling three-level space home to Kōjin, Noodle Bar, and Milk Bar. How did you meet David Chang?
Anwar Mekhayech: We were working for Westbank, who was developing the Shangri-La Hotel, and they introduced us to David Chang and the Momofuku team. [Dave] was spending more time in Toronto, and I had the chance to get to know him and show him around the city. We were given this amazing space that Westbank had created, which is this glass cube [by architect James K.M. Cheng] that sits beside the hotel. It was an incredible blank volume, and by far Chang’s most ambitious project to date.
Next came Momofuku’s debut project in Las Vegas.
Marguerite Mariscal: I started in 2011, and at that point, DesignAgency was working on Toronto. I knew about the relationship and was involved in the project, but more so from a digital communications angle. The real relationship between Anwar and I started with Vegas. We interviewed five to 10 different firms, and one of those firms was DesignAgency. We thought Anwar, who already understood [our brand], would be the right person to take that a step further. We wanted to stay true to our principles, but embrace the celebratory and larger-than-life energy surrounding us.
How did you translate the brand to Sin City?
AM: Vegas is its own beast, and very flashy. It’s a lot of things that Momofuku isn’t. We had to find that balance between what their style is and making it Vegas in a classy, but also fun way. Momofuku is also not meant to be an overly serious space. There can be a lot of fun to it. It’s a little bit louder and faster paced. [There is a] big mural from Dave’s friend, David Choe, which is an incredible piece that anchors the room. It centers around the bar, but the dining room opens up and there are windows out to the Strip. We wanted to remind people that they were sitting with this great view of Vegas rather than being very insular.
MM: To that end, we had the opportunity to push what someone might expect from Momofuku. We kept the entrance more familiar to our East Village roots with oak wood. Then, the main dining room builds into a space more conducive to our large-format dishes and celebratory occasions. Elements like the open kitchen, chef’s counter, chef’s bar, concrete, and artwork are consistent throughout the Momo-verse.
Most recently, Momofuku opened Kāwi with chef Eunjo Park at Hudson Yards in Manhattan. What did you want to create for that massive retail-dining development?
AM: When you walk through the [retail] Shops, everything is white. It’s very bright. We wanted Kāwi to be the opposite of that with darker oak, lots of brass, and indirect light. It’s warm and inviting. We knew we were going to create a high-end restaurant that would have a signature Momofuku feel to it, with three distinct areas. Marguerite and the team wanted to have a bar concept accessible to the work crowd in that area, and after work, a bar scene. The main dining room is the heart of the restaurant, which has a chef’s bar, and you can see directly into the kitchen. There’s a lot of cross-pollination between front-of-house and back-of-house. They also wanted to have a grab-and-go concept that they invented called Peach Mart, so we designed that 400-square-foot space as well.
MM: As with every space we’ve designed with Anwar, we start with a base coat of a Momofuku restaurant and then apply what makes sense based on the food, chef, and people who are going to be there. For example, Anwar got a beautiful bouquet of different blossoms that’s in the center of the room, and that’s something, if it was a Chang restaurant, it would never fly. There’s wallpaper that is something we typically wouldn’t do in a Momofuku sense, but it works here because it’s what Ahra Ko [the general manager] and the team want. We want a space that [reflects] the surrounding area while at the same time isn’t over the top. Our goal is to make sure it’s still a Momofuku restaurant that’s not pandering to what we think would appease the people there.
After working on five projects together, how would you describe your process?
AM: I run all the design by Marguerite, and we make most of the design decisions together. We’ve established a good level of trust with the team, where they know we understand the Momofuku sensibility and that we’re going to create something that’s beautiful. Service and timelessness are key to what we try to create for them because that’s the brand DNA. They don’t want the interiors to overshadow that.
MM: Anwar brings a much broader experience, having worked on a ton of hotels and restaurants. He’s seen a lot of what’s out there. Dave is [thinking about] where Momofuku wants to go. With every restaurant we open, we’re trying to evolve both from a culinary and a design standpoint. Each new concept and restaurant is an opportunity for us to take those two pieces and put them together.
AM: It’s also about the flow and the energy of the space. Marguerite and Dave like to have a strong connection between the front-of-house and back-of-house so diners can see a lot of the action. We make sure that everything fits together, while also giving diners a lot of different experiences. We’re not trying to be homogenous in any way.
What do you think has made your partnership so successful over the past eight-plus years?
AM: It comes down to trust. Marguerite and I have been working together for so long that we have a very fluid working relationship. Compared to eight years ago, their team is much bigger, so being a constant and having Marguerite and Dave trust us is a big part of that evolution.
MM: Having worked with us as long as he has, Anwar has figured out where we can have a more design-forward [approach] and where we need to stick with our fundamentals. He’s been through that process with us so many times that he understands where he can take things and where to hold back. There are so many things when opening a restaurant that we just don’t know the answer to. There has to be a willingness to work together and be honest with each other. Because of that, we can be completely transparent about where we need to be flexible or whether they need to be flexible. I can tell Anwar that what the answer is now might be completely different in a month. From a relationship standpoint, we’re at a place where we’re comfortable not knowing.
