Chef Tom Colicchio, a 2016 HD Platinum Circle honoree, and Sisha Ortuzar first launched New York’s health-focused, fine-casual sandwich concept ’Wichcraft in 2003. The brand has since expanded to nine locations that embody farm-to-table quality and efficiency. The latest ’Wichcraft outpost debuted this summer in Manhattan’s posh TriBeCa neighborhood. Crafted by New York architecture firm Mapos, with assistance on updated branding and identity from locally based design group Tag Collective, the new location honors the sustainable sourcing at the concept’s core.
“We gutted everything and worked upwards to emphasize the space’s beautiful vertical interior,” explains Mapos principal and co-founder Colin Brice. “We embraced the space’s lineage by retaining the industrial feel of a classic storefront, long known to locals in the neighborhood.”
The redesign features natural materials to channel agrarian elements across the urban setting. A counter at the back of the dining room, for example, is made from textured blonde wood and natural steel shelving. Perched above a small kitchen window behind cash registers, the menu wall is framed in white oak sourced from reclaimed shipping palettes, which are showcased throughout the restaurant.
At the condiment counter, repurposed wood recalls a stable or barn door and reaches the ceiling, highlighting ’Wichcraft’s organic emphasis. Suspended from the ceiling is a large wooden fixture that helps anchor the space and adds a sculptural element, Brice explains, reinforcing the barn inspiration and that the products “are sourced from local farmers and purveyors.”
Industrial-style ceramic pendants hang from the piece, illuminating the 12-seat communal table below, which is surrounded by wood-topped metal stools that offer both flexibility for guests and easy maintenance. “The steel base [of the stools] is slim and durable and the wood top resembles a tractor seat,” Brice notes. “Like the rest of the design, they mix the best of modern and industrial.”
Chosen for its durability—as were the white subway tiles gracing the walls—engineered hack wood is featured on the front-of-house floors. Reminiscent of Old World markets and the city’s subways, the tiles appear in three different sizes, creating a monochromatic pattern.
The neutral steel and wood palette is offset by deep orange accents, pops of yellow, and splashes of green in the branding material and live succulent plants. The flora also graces the market wall, which holds retail items and signage on open, flexible shelving visible from the street. “With colorful panels and wooden boxes, it serves as a focal point and resembles a modernist, Mondrian-inspired functional piece,” Brice says.
