Old World, New Beginnings: Restaurant Design and Hurricane Sandy
Tamer Hamawi, Elise Rosenberg, and Emilie Kihlstrom are behind the beloved Brooklyn restaurants Colonie, Gran Eléctrica, and Governor. They have a deep understanding of the necessity of establishing an original storyline for each of their restaurants. With Colonie, their first collaboration, Rosenberg tells us, “We knew the importance of coming up with a theme that was expressed in every detail—with lighting, with every corner of every table. It really felt like we were giving birth to something.” Kihlstrom agreed, adding, “It was like our baby. Physically? No. It was not physically that hard. But mentally? Mentally it was just as painful.” Hamawi explains, “Being so heavily involved in the design process involved our blood, sweat, and tears. We were in there every day from the first to the last, sourcing everything, overseeing everything. The end result is something we’re super proud of. And it just looks great.”
Colonie opened in early 2011 in Brooklyn Heights and was immediately embraced as a destination spot, both because of its acclaimed menu and its new and fresh take on the “old world” design aesthetic that had become so prevalent in the best Brooklyn restaurants. Rosenberg says, “It was really important for us to have that ‘old world’ element but we wanted to create a forward-thinking version. We added brightness by adding the garden wall and a cool element by using subway tile in the kitchen in order to contrast with all the warmth. This brightness makes it somewhere you want to be during the day and in the summer.”