Project Team

design: Giant
builder: Crosbie Projects

Suppliers

furniture: Crank Furniture Co., Royale Upholstery
lighting: custom Design Giant (Crosbie Projects built), T&Z Lighting

 

Eastside Grill pays homage to NYC’s Meatpackers district. Sexy and theatrical, it features a bespoke interior with; leather-panelled bar before a bronze back bar display; custom brass light fixture; herringbone floor; a sprawling artwork by Belgian born artist Caratoes. All marry the centenarian building to the classic New York grill.

At first sight, the client saw an opportunity to create something reminiscent of his favourite city’s dining experiences. The heritage listed Old Rum store in Chippendale had characteristics of a NYC warehouse with a Meatpackers District edginess. It had to get Sydney’s diners up to a first floor venue with no street presence and no views. All this with a modest budget of $500k.

The location was a blessing and a curse. With no direct access from the street, and barely a signage opportunity Giant planned the first floor lobby entrance with an element that would stop you in its tracks. This pivoted around a centrally located bar facing the entry doors, with a floor feature of high contrast chevron timbers leading you in. The remaining space planning worked around this.

Working closely with the developer and the head chef, they were challenged to condense the kitchen in favour of a more generous front of house. This created a kitchen layout that ensured as much food theatre as possible, while limiting views less worthy of exposure.

Leaving the bones of the building exposed and inserting the main design features like a stage set adds to the experience.

The project is outstanding example, blending new with old, familiarity with excitement, comfort within a contemporary setting.

The space needed to be dark and theatrical to highlight the best of its inherent character, its heritage brickwork and warehouse style windows, whilst obscuring the contemporary additions that fought with the concept.

The brief was also to represent the US/Japanese fusion on offer from the charcoal grill.  The interior needed the masculinity of the American steakhouse along with a delicate glamour that would appeal to a female market.

Classic details like a panelled leather bar front, soaring bronze back bar, dark timber flooring and ribbed leather banquettes, blended with the chevron timber runway, the HARLEY inspired brass chandelier and contemporary warehouse style furniture.

Belgian street artist Caratoes created a sprawling artwork with splashes of red and flurries of NYC taxi yellow that is simultaneously reminiscent of NYC by night and Japanese manga. It brings both a femininity and edge that makes the space truly contemporary.

Giant worked very closely with the builder to get our concept for the chandelier to fruition, experimenting with different brass suppliers and rolling techniques until the right combination enabled the rolled tubes to successfully take shape and not crack.

Similar experimentation was required for the lighting source and associated technology that would enable a good quality of light, while being able to handle the dimming levels required for such a space.