New York has always been a great port town, which perhaps explains why a culinary ode to the sea is washing over us at a host of seafood spots. These restaurants not only share a religious devotion to delivering the day’s catch, but also a detailed oceanic aesthetic crafted by some of the city’s most able design gurus. Here, we take a look at how they brought the deep blue into the concrete jungle.
The John Dory
85 10th Ave.; 212-929-4948, TheJohnDory.com; Owner/Designer: Ken Friedman
Concept: A cross between a Victorian English seafood pub, a fish monger and a Key West fish shack. “I didn’t want it to be a typical NY restaurant with white walls and white tablecloths,” says Friedman, who also designed his Spotted Pig. “I wanted to have fish everywhere.”
Ceiling and Floor Tiles: Inspired by scientific fish posters and custom-made by Michael Davis, a stained glass artisan in Long Island City. He painted them by hand to mimic the effect of the bluish green light of an aquarium. For the floor tiles, Friedman chose bottom feeders and had tiles made from bricks of German glass.
Fish Tank: “I had a fish tank growing up, and every night I fell asleep looking at it,” recalls Friedman, who uses a 900-gallon saltwater aquarium as a “wall” between the bar and dining room. The fish must be watched for aggression (so they don’t kill one another), and an eel once went missing, never to be found. “One theory is that it ended up as an amuse bouche.”
Framed Fish Portraits: Friedman scoured flea markets in Paris and London thrift stores for fish posters and prints. “I don’t have a clue how many fish prints I have hanging in the restaurant, but I know I have a stack more I intend to put up.”
Fish Bar: It looks like a huge school of fish are swimming along the top of the bar, an illusion created by imbedding rubber lures in glass tiles. Friedman first used real anchovies in resin, but their guts exploded.
Dining Room Mural: Painted by London-based artist Lucinda Rogers, whose art, including a portrait of a John Dory fish, is featured at the Spotted Pig. Friedman commissioned her to create the restaurant’s logo and a mural for the dining room.
On the Menu: kampachi crudo with ginger ($16), escarole salad with anchovy dressing ($14), seared stuffed squid with chorizo ($24)
Lure Fishbar, 142 Mercer St.; 212-431-7676, LureFishbar.com; Owner: John McDonald; Designer: Serge Becker
Concept: The galley of a private yacht brought to life by Becker (La Esquina, Select). We “made creative use of the fact that we were in a basement with only a few windows,” McDonald says. “Serge brought an amazing attention to detail with wood treatments, shapes and scale.”
Walls and Woodwork: Covered in shiny teak and rosewood, the walls echo the hulls of wooden yachts. “It makes it resemble a classic period of European boating from the 1960s and ’70s,” Becker says. “It’s not contemporary. It’s very sexy and romantic.”
Flooring: Striped decking like the exterior of a yacht.
Porthole Windows: “These were a no brainer,” Becker says. “They are about a foot above street level, so we made them like peepholes to give the space a little intrigue. They also bring a lot of light.”
Banquettes: Modeled on the seats in hotelier Andre Balazs’ Hacker Craft yacht. “I was going for the sleek kind of yacht that none of us can afford,” Becker says.
On the Menu: grilled whole daurade with crispy butternut squash ravioli, creamed spinach and agro dolce ($29)
Fishtail, 135 E. 62nd St.; 212-754-1300, FishtailDB.com; Owner: David Burke; Designer: Architectura and Burke
Concept: Sustainable American seafood meets steakhouse. Set in a duplex Upper East Side townhouse, the space features a casual downstairs lounge and raw bar, and a high-style upstairs dining room. The bar includes hand-printed fish lampshades and a white wall of waves, while upstairs boasts an exterior graffiti fish mural, a Warhol print from Burke’s collection and a series of original fish prints.
Fish Tank: Behind the bar, you’ll spy a psychedelic fish tank filled with spooky glowing jellyfish. “People always think they’re real,” says Burke, “but they’re electric — courtesy of Hammacher Schlemmer.”
The Ringer: The driftwood dock master by the stairs, named “The Ringer,” is by Carol Setterlund. “Originally I wanted him for home,” Burke says of the rustic seagull perch, “but we didn’t have room. Lots of people didn’t like him, so we put him by the kitchen.”
Graffiti: Brooklyn-based graffiti artist Shannon MacGregor imprinted the bar lampshades, dining room chairs and mirrors with offbeat graffiti fish.
On the Menu: lobster BLT salad (with avocado, bacon and tomato, $18), roasted halibut on the bone ($29 per pound), warm artichoke barigoule ($8), shrimp home fries ($6.50)
Rusty Knot, 425 West St.; (212) 645-5668. Owners: Ken Friedman, Taavo Somer; Designer: Somer
Concept: A salty sailors’ bar from the ’40s and ’50s. “We face the water and the sailboats and sunsets over the Hudson, but the bar is also in this building that’s unremarkable and ugly,” Somer says. “To do something more elegant seemed a disconnect.” Somer used cheap linoleum flooring and covered the walls in wood paneling, adding bamboo chairs, a tiki-styled bar, porthole bathroom doors, an old tropical fish tank with plastic bubbling toys and a (free) refurbished jukebox stocked with ocean-themed tunes.
Wood Paneling: “I was going for the porn-in-the-wood-paneled-basement thing from those Calvin Klein ads,” Somer says. “It was really hard to find, and it was $500 for the entire bar. I try to be frugal.”
Bamboo Chairs: Facing the water, they’ll have you craving an umbrella cocktail in an instant. “I got the whole set of chairs in a Connecticut flea market really cheap,” Somer says. “It’s a style that’s very undervalued that fit with the tiki idea.”
Stuffed King Salmon: Somer loves taxidermy (i.e., Freeman’s). For the Rusty Knot, he borrowed a salmon from a friend’s dad, but it didn’t last. “It was stolen but returned a week later,” he says. “The guys said their roommate had stolen it and felt bad.” Somer gave it back to his friend’s dad.
On the Menu: pretzel dogs ($4), blue-corn chicken and biscuits ($9), mini fish po’ boys ($12)
Rusty Knot, 425 West St.; (212) 645-5668. Owners: Ken Friedman, Taavo Somer; Designer: Somer
Concept: A salty sailors’ bar from the ’40s and ’50s. “We face the water and the sailboats and sunsets over the Hudson, but the bar is also in this building that’s unremarkable and ugly,” Somer says. “To do something more elegant seemed a disconnect.” Somer used cheap linoleum flooring and covered the walls in wood paneling, adding bamboo chairs, a tiki-styled bar, porthole bathroom doors, an old tropical fish tank with plastic bubbling toys and a (free) refurbished jukebox stocked with ocean-themed tunes.
Wood Paneling: “I was going for the porn-in-the-wood-paneled-basement thing from those Calvin Klein ads,” Somer says. “It was really hard to find, and it was $500 for the entire bar. I try to be frugal.”
Bamboo Chairs: Facing the water, they’ll have you craving an umbrella cocktail in an instant. “I got the whole set of chairs in a Connecticut flea market really cheap,” Somer says. “It’s a style that’s very undervalued that fit with the tiki idea.”
Stuffed King Salmon: Somer loves taxidermy (i.e., Freeman’s). For the Rusty Knot, he borrowed a salmon from a friend’s dad, but it didn’t last. “It was stolen but returned a week later,” he says. “The guys said their roommate had stolen it and felt bad.” Somer gave it back to his friend’s dad.
On the Menu: pretzel dogs ($4), blue-corn chicken and biscuits ($9), mini fish po’ boys ($12)
Harbour, 290 Hudson St.; 212-989-6410,
HarbourNYC.com; Owner/Designer: Richard Schaeffer
Concept: An echo of Schaeffer’s own 110-foot Horizon yacht. With its nautical maps, portholes and teak wood, you may feel the waves swell beneath your feet.
Teak Bar: It’s crafted from super-glossy teak wood, with complementing walls paneled in white ostrich leather with whitewashed shingles.
Portholes: Like Lure, the dining room, reached through a corridor lined with nautical maps, was designed to resemble a yacht hull with polished teak, wedge and cumaru wood. White glove-leather banquettes resemble stateroom furnishings, and mock skylights give the illusion of dining under the stars. The most compelling design elements are the rectangular mirrors cut into the shape of portholes, which give the feeling of sailing away.
Bathing Beauty Painting: Schaeffer purchased a painting of two seaside sweeties, called “Sardinia,” from a show in the Hamptons. It’s by artist Brendan Murphy.
On the Menu: cobia sashimi with ginger, cucumber, ponzu and sesame oil ($10), white sturgeon with curry, crispy garlic and shu mai ($26)