Espresso-ing Art

Brad
New York
co-creator

Milk guzzles from inside a silver pitcher, whizzed around by the wand of an espresso machine.  The sloshing sound wafts inside this quaint and cozy coffee shop tucked away in a low-key street in Downtown New York bordering SoHo and Little Italy.

The cool melody of reggae music emanating from the speakers seem to harmonize with the steam blowing off from the counter where the lovely barista juggles between fixing cups of iced coffee for eager customers and slicing a cinnamon-raisin loaf for a table of tourists remarking in a heavy Italian accent what I could only guess as praise for this really tremendous find that is Oro Bakery and Bar.

Sitting comfortably across from me, with a cup of coffee cradled between his palms is Brad, the one person who was, not only instrumental in bringing this cafe to life, but who was also the brains behind Oro’s trademark look and feel — a cafe/bakeshop by day, a French bistro by night.  With thousands of coffee shops dotting all over New York, you got to hand it to Brad for coming up with a place that truly strikes out for its ambiance and that fuzzy feeling of enjoying your afternoon cup of cappuccino as if you were just sitting at your favorite couch at home.

Brad’s profession is one that I have rarely come across…well, actually it’s the first time ever that I met someone of his kind.  As you can see, Brad is a restaurant designer, one of the many things this aesthetically-minded Jack of all design trades specializes in.

I came across him when a good friend and I stumbled upon this other remarkable coffee shop by the West Village several weeks ago where I made an ecstatic comment about the La Marzocco espresso machine they had over there, Brad overheard it, and before you knew it, my friend and I found ourselves another really interesting person who had a good story to tell.

Double majoring in Engineering and Theatre is in itself unheard of, but being that he has always been fascinated with Art in regards to its technical and creative aspects, Brad skittered into restaurant designing  several years after he established a good career designing theatre sets in Broadway, as well as movie theatres, health clubs, public space lobbies, and more.  His work allowed him to thoroughly enjoy the facets of engineering and laying out and making sure all the spaces fit together.

The opportunity to design his first restaurant project presented itself a couple of years ago when his then-girlfriend (now his fiancee) endeavored to open her own resto/cafe in the West Village.  Her initial meetings with an architect and interior designer did not produce the idea she was gunning for.  Thankfully, Brad acted on it quick, and with careful planning and a natural eye for what is visually tasteful, Mama’s Mudsliders emerged as a hip, must-visit cafe for the caffeine-holics, sugar junkies, and even for those  who just want to find a good place to sit down, relax, and enjoy a good drink.

At present, Brad still designs other spaces not particularly entailing the food industry.  He engages himself in various commercial establishments that stimulate his mind to come up with a space that combines the necessities of function with the right mix of form to make it attractive and enhancing to the patrons.  However, Brad’s true fascination lies in designing smaller, more intimate spaces such as Oro and Mama’s Mudsliders.

Brad takes a sip of his coffee, and with a grin explains, “When you’re working on small projects with people with smaller budgets, you sort of take on multiple roles.  But at the end of the day because it’s so micromanaged and you’re so involved in it, it’s like having a kid.  And then you feel so proud when you think about how if you hadn’t been there for that afternoon, that pipe would have been painted black instead of gold, and suddenly that space would’ve felt totally different.”

I couldn’t help but agree.  I take a sip of my own organic, Summer Passion tea which is greatly soothing my jagged nerves from the hubbub of the day at work.  I glance to my left and catch sight of a sole, enormous photo-installation of what seems to be rooftops of classic Downtown buildings at the wall spanning the counter.

Brad follows my gaze and with a smile spreading upward his lips, he adds that he captured that photo himself, too.  I smile back, acknowledging to him that it’s only natural that the designer of this really cool place should at least leave a discrete yet striking signature to complete the picture.

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*Special thanks to Horst Dieter Baum for the photograph above.