Timing and a close working relationship was everything for architect and furniture designer Douglas Fanning and his latest project, Millesime in the Carlton Hotel in New York. “I had met Peter Chase, one of the partners, about eight years ago to design a project that never got funded,” explains Fanning. “Over the years we had worked on a handful of concept projects for bars and restaurants including Wunderbar in the W Montreal. It is definitely special to see years of mutual trust work out in a project like this.”

Fanning and his Brooklyn, New York-based studio DYAD worked with two of the owners, Peter Chase and chef Laurent Manrique of Collective Hospitality, on the design concepts for the Salon and restaurant, which was divided into two separate projects with opposite looks: one, driven by Parisian style and the other, by a pure and simple aesthetic. The Salon, a throwback to nightlife in the 1920s, features custom pieces (lighting and tables by Fanning and banquettes by Delta Furniture) all surrounding a center stage for live musical acts. “Peter is the person in charge of this area and we talked about Tin Pan Alley-era music and style and the old Hotel Seville, now the Carlton.”

For the grand brasserie-like restaurant, inspiration was drawn from the Vienna Secession Movement of 1900 and Parisian eateries. “I wanted to avoid Deco which is so prominent in New York City; I feel it has been overused,” he says. With that in mind, Fanning used high quality materials to bring luxury to furniture and surfaces for the space that he says already had “brasserie bones.” Tight café seating found on the streets of Paris inspired shorter-than-normal long U-shaped central banquettes (Fanning and his wife spent time in Paris and used Parisian street life as inspiration); a chef’s table doubles as an architectural element; and Thornet café chairs with custom cushions and brass tacks were used to match the banquettes. Fanning also kept original features like a Tiffany-style glass dome skylight and the rawbar area (it used to be the check-in counter of the Seville). “If a place feels rich visually and materials are treated well I think one wants to stay longer and return often.”

Red is the predominate color throughout the space; it complements both the original yellow and terracotta mosaic floor in the upstairs restaurant as well as the dark wood wall paneling in the Salon just underneath. “The color red becomes the connector element,” Fanning says, who used a bright terracotta-like red on the banquettes in the restaurant and a burgundy ox blood-colored silk that he laminated to brown linen to create large lampshades for a smoky and refined lighting effect.

Elsewhere, he outfitted the space with ebony and bronze tabletops, and dark, hand-tooled leather on columns, walls, and the host stand-just an extension of the fine furniture he makes in his studio. “My favorite part of this project is knowing that people are enjoying the atmosphere of the space-that some feel like they are in a Paris brasserie or in a Tin Pan Alley music salon different from other places,” he says.

Millesime, New York
Owner: Collective Hospitality
Architecture Firm: Douglas Fanning Architecture & DYAD Studio, Brooklyn, New York
Architecture Project Team: Douglas Fanning, architect and principal; Ryan Pauly and Fialka Semenuik, designers; and Manuel Sanchez, fabricator
Contractors: Douglas Fanning of DYAD Inc. and Dexter Phillips of Taylor Made Contracting (downstairs Salon) and Omnibuild (upstairs restaurant)
Lighting Consultants: Paul Priven of Zia Priven
Kitchen & Bars: Gary Jacobs of Jacobs/Doland

MAIN DINING ROOM UPSTAIRS
Sconces: Andy Thornton Catalogue

SALON DOWNSTAIRS
Furniture/Lighting/Metalwork: Designed and manufactured by Douglas Fanning of DYAD Inc.
Banquettes and Lounge Chairs: Delta Furniture, Meubles Delta Montreal, and David Sefkind
Tiger Print Fabric for Salon Chairs: Duralee
Custom Leather at Columns, Wall Panels, and Host Stand: Ted Nemeth of Ted Nemeth Designs
Custom Woodwork for Tables by Premium Millwork Inc. and Julio Cuenca
Ebony Veneer: Certainly Wood
Bronze: Lewis Brass
Large Lamps: Fabricated by DYAD; shades and sconces made at Diane Shades
Silk Fabrics: MOOD Fabrics