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Restaurant

Restaurant

Caffè Storico
170 Central Park West
New York
Tel: 212.873.3400
Designer: SLDesign

In the newly renovated New York Historical Society, Caffe Storico acts both as Venetian cicchetteria and exhibition space. Run by restaurateur Stephen Starr, the cafe, much like the museum’s collection, is an eclectic combination of period touches; Chris Sheffield of Philadelphia-based SLDesign explains that the firm attempted to create a space that draws on many references from the history of New York. Artisan-crafted display cases line the walls, featuring Chinese and 19th-century European porcelain, and Staffordshire china from the museum’s collection. Art Nouveau, Victorian, and contemporary Italian influences lend the space a sense of fantasy; a marble slab forms the monolithic cicchetti bar, offering diners a look at their meal’s preparation, and facing the bar, behind a lemon-yellow 30-foot-long banquette, ornamental cabinetry frames a view of the Great Hall colonnade. With its collage of influences, the restaurant fits in perfectly with the Historical Society’s far-ranging collection of the city’s past.


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