Salvaged pews, wall landscaping, vintage fixtures: an urban farmhouse, Brooklyn-style
In our ongoing "Dine By Design" series, we look at all the design ingredients that go into cooking up an eye-popping restaurant.
Moving into a long-forgotten space in Brooklyn Heights, Colonie (127 Atlantic Ave. between Henry and State Sts., 917-727-4575) opened in February to a hungry neighborhood. But it’s not just food they fashioned up: The snappy space holds just as much interest as chef Alex Sorenson’s biodynamic and seasonal fare.
Owners Elise Rosenberg, Emelie Kihilstrom, and Tamer Hamawi hired local Brooklyn Heights designer Alex Meyers of MADesign to refurbish the run-down, rotting space and turn it into something homey yet classy. “They came to me with definite direction, something old worldly but contemporary,” Meyers says. “Basically, the feeling of a barn without being too literal.”
So, they allowed the towering exposed brick wall to shine through, built white country-style cabinets and shelves by the bar, and covered the ceiling, floor and bathrooms with dark-stained recycled wood. The result: a sophisticated, farmhouse-chic restaurant—and a perfect complement to Sorenson’s farm-focused menu.
By Linnea Covington; photos by Noah Fecks
