Jean’s has a club downstairs, but upstairs feels just as much as clubby and night-time geared as an space. Jumping on the french-dip craze, Jean’s provides sandwiches, entrees and all sorts of foods that can be paired with/without a martini.
As someone who used to live in Williamsburg and frequent the former Black Flamingo, it was exciting to see the space reshape as Ensenada, a refreshing Mexican corner-spot that serves tasty and beautiful ceviches, aguachiles and other bright plates.
After years of being closed, the renovated Chelsea Hotel returned with a bang, and it’s restaurant Cafe Chelsea delivers on the experience of a classic French brasserie with traditional and new twists on menu items, like the delicious Maitake au Poivre, pictured below.
I’ve been fortunate enough to shoot at Sappe a few times, and they have a very strong aesthetic that translates between their space and their food, transporting diners to a Thailand of a bygone past.
North of the city and east into the river is the City Island Pizza Company which I captured for The Infatuation. With it’s somewhat nautical themed design, and core selection of red-sauce pizza joints, CIPC delivers a unique experience in an island overrun with fish fries.
One of the current 50 Best Bars in the World, Mace, hosted an event, Cocktails on Fire, featuring renowned bartenders Shannon Mustipher, Dale DeGroff and David Wondrich, who all produced different drinks involving flames. The three also have collaborated with Mace parent-company Cocktail Kingdom, for whom I have also shared photos.
Bloomfield, NJ’s Fanny’s has a colorful palate of drinks and red-sauce powered food, with a sophisticated twist. The interiors, completed by Olivia Jane Design, were what brought me to shoot this space, but the restaurant utilized my food photography abilities as well.
In the tree-laden hills of North Salem, NY is a wonderful French bistro, Cena Dou, which features fews of the hilly vistas and all sorts of seasonal-driven French cuisine. These photos were used for the launch of the restaurant and remain as marketing collateral.
Sometimes less is more, and on a menu like Kolachi’s, where there are thre menu items, that seems to be a proven success to the Pakistani-quick-service-concept in the East Village. To jazz up the content, the restaurant hired a few models to show off the food and created a more lifestyle feel for the shots, since the food, although delicious, isn’t particularly eye-popping.
There was once a Korean bbq/steakhouse/fine dining established that I photographed multiple times - at least six visits seems like a fair recollection. From interiors, to dishes, to full menus, I shot the heck out of this place and it has only come to occur to me that it is no longer in business less than six months after opening, which is a shame, especially with how beautiful the space and dishes came out.
As a Southern California bred Greenpointer, I’m a big fan of Tacos Ramirez and was super excited to learn I was going to photography their second restaurant, with a menu comprised solely from pork meat, for The Infatuation.
For an editorial review on The Manner Hotel, I was tasked photograph both the new cocktail bar, Sloane’s, and The Otter, from chef Alex Stupack who I had actually shot a few years before, which features a bright seafood centric menu in a wonderfully Art Deco space.
Anyone who knows me can tell you I have very little interest in sports. Nevertheless, I have been to Citi Field a handful of times and when I got the call to shoot for the Mets Stadium I was very excited. It was definitely one of the more unique shoots, wherein we were shooting in one of the vip lounges and there were more staff from the stadium then I had ever seen congregated for a single shoot - at least a dozen, if not more, were on standby. The team was ready to step up to the plate!
As someone who, long ago, lived in the East Village, it’s always exciting to see how the neighborhood transforms but manages to stay the same. It’s a fast past environment where a lot of restaurants come and go and, unfortunately, Nook NYC no longer remains but featured some beautifully plated dishes in a wonderfully magnetic space.
At the upper most part of the Upper West Side lies Marlow Bistro, a rustically charming restaurant that features a bevy of vegetarian dishes and a very cozy atmosphere.
As a seasoned traveler, I find joy when realizing I can access a lounge at an airport from which I am departing, and although I seldom fly out of LGA, I was able to experience what may be the best lounge I have experienced in a domestic terminal. Flashback to six months before when I photographed in this space and was only marveled by the appearance and selection the kitchen offered. Suffice to say it all tastes as good as it looks.
The quality of food in a restaurant is so important but an interior and vibe can compliment or exceed a diner’s experience. Such is the case with NAKS, which has a gorgeous dining room where the communal Kamayan feasts are served to diners without utensils. It seems like this sort of palm-laden interior was co-opted by Tiki culture and bars for years, so it’s nice to see if in embraced by a restaurant whose Filipino culture was used to inspire the Tiki world in the first place.
Hoexter’s is a very stylish Upper East Side Brasserie, with the same management group as the previously shared Il Totano. When photographing food, it’s great to have a hand model on standby but rarely is it the case that you’ll have one with beautifully tattooed hands that so perfectly interplay with the food at hand.
As a hired gun, sometimes a photographer is required to fill the shoes of someone else’s work. As Animo! opened it’s doors in the Upper East Side, it had a photo library captured before the restaurant was even in its space and the client wanted images that emulated the same feel. To me, the images didn’t look as lively and interesting as I thought they could be but I was grateful to have the hands of a stylist by my side and turn this dishes into life.
As a Greenpoint resident, and Los Angeles native/taco snob, I’ve always been a huge fan of Taqueria Ramirez and was super excited when The Infatuation asked me to cover the new restaurant from the crew, Carnitas Ramirez. Very similar in size/build/style to the Greenpoint counterpoint, the small shop features only pork based tacos from all parts of the pig - all very delicious.
