Paul Bentel is a partner at Bentel & Bentel, a four-partner architecture and interior design firm. He has collaborated with noted restaurateur Danny Meyer on Eleven Madison Park, Gramercy Tavern, and, most recently, the Modern, which opened in January in the Yoshio Taniguchi-redesigned Museum
of Modern Art. The result, a stunning mixture of high modernism and considered hospitality, has met with critical acclaim and propelled the firm fully into the public eye. Bentel & Bentel also designed Tom Colicchio's three Craft restaurants.
The Modern seems a bit tucked away in the museum. How did you reconcile the idea of a museum restaurant with creating a Midtown dining destination?
Working inside the museum, we were aware that we'd have multiple constituencies. The lunch crowd from the museum is one group. People from all over the world come to MoMA to see the artwork, and they come into the restaurant. So we have an entrance from the museum. But we were also conscious that Danny was eager for the restaurant to be a great Midtown destination, so it had to have an entrance from the street as well. One of the central questions was brought up by the museum picking a downtown restaurant operator, Danny Meyer, who has developed a distinct character in his restaurants. His others are in former commercial buildings with storefronts and street energy. There's a real dynamic relationship downtown between the streets, the vibrant combination of commercial and residential communities, the plate-glass windows, etcetera, versus the Midtown restaurant, which is inside a big commercial building and separated from the street. So we tried to put a portion of the restaurant inside the Philip Johnson building, facing the street. We opted for something that was a little more muted and low-key, so even though the big sweeping arc is frosted glass, it becomes a touchstone that curves right into the face of the bar. Once you get past the threshold of the restaurant, you're swept graciously into the dining room beyond.
How did you deal with the pressure of working within such a modernist icon? Did you feel it?
We're architects already committed to modern architecture, working in the Xanadu of modern design. The museum was very much involved in the design development—we were working with [museum director] Glenn Lowry, [architecture and design curator] Terry Riley, and [design curator] Paola Antonelli. We all set the bar very, very, very high, and this meant that in most cases the question was how to make it happen. Sometimes when you're working at that level, it can make you reluctant to experiment. People who are at the cutting edge are prone to failure, but we didn't want to jettison doing new things just because the bar was so high. For us it just meant trying things, talking about them, looking at them 25 different ways, and then starting somewhere else. That space was examined in model, in drawing, in perspective, in 3-D renderings, in every possible way you can imagine. We went to Copenhagen to source furniture. They said, "Don't find Danish furniture; just find great contemporary and modern design." There were a lot of things that worked—contemporary and modern pieces dating from the 50's and 60's.
How do you see your collaboration with Danny Meyer, and where is it heading?
I think we've grown with Danny and have developed a common sensibility about what restaurants as urban institutions, as parts of the city, can and should be. They're now part of modern and contemporary culture in a way that they have not been in the United States for a very long time. They're centerpieces. Cities seek out great restaurants, and people travel to eat at them. They characterize a particular cultural milieu and sensibility in the same way museums and concert halls and galleries and commercial venues and sports franchises—everything that makes a city distinct—do.
—Eva Hagberg
Posted 11.07.05
Photo: Quentin Bacon (the Modern)
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of Modern Art. The result, a stunning mixture of high modernism and considered hospitality, has met with critical acclaim and propelled the firm fully into the public eye. Bentel & Bentel also designed Tom Colicchio's three Craft restaurants.
The Modern seems a bit tucked away in the museum. How did you reconcile the idea of a museum restaurant with creating a Midtown dining destination?
Working inside the museum, we were aware that we'd have multiple constituencies. The lunch crowd from the museum is one group. People from all over the world come to MoMA to see the artwork, and they come into the restaurant. So we have an entrance from the museum. But we were also conscious that Danny was eager for the restaurant to be a great Midtown destination, so it had to have an entrance from the street as well. One of the central questions was brought up by the museum picking a downtown restaurant operator, Danny Meyer, who has developed a distinct character in his restaurants. His others are in former commercial buildings with storefronts and street energy. There's a real dynamic relationship downtown between the streets, the vibrant combination of commercial and residential communities, the plate-glass windows, etcetera, versus the Midtown restaurant, which is inside a big commercial building and separated from the street. So we tried to put a portion of the restaurant inside the Philip Johnson building, facing the street. We opted for something that was a little more muted and low-key, so even though the big sweeping arc is frosted glass, it becomes a touchstone that curves right into the face of the bar. Once you get past the threshold of the restaurant, you're swept graciously into the dining room beyond.
How did you deal with the pressure of working within such a modernist icon? Did you feel it?
We're architects already committed to modern architecture, working in the Xanadu of modern design. The museum was very much involved in the design development—we were working with [museum director] Glenn Lowry, [architecture and design curator] Terry Riley, and [design curator] Paola Antonelli. We all set the bar very, very, very high, and this meant that in most cases the question was how to make it happen. Sometimes when you're working at that level, it can make you reluctant to experiment. People who are at the cutting edge are prone to failure, but we didn't want to jettison doing new things just because the bar was so high. For us it just meant trying things, talking about them, looking at them 25 different ways, and then starting somewhere else. That space was examined in model, in drawing, in perspective, in 3-D renderings, in every possible way you can imagine. We went to Copenhagen to source furniture. They said, "Don't find Danish furniture; just find great contemporary and modern design." There were a lot of things that worked—contemporary and modern pieces dating from the 50's and 60's.
How do you see your collaboration with Danny Meyer, and where is it heading?
I think we've grown with Danny and have developed a common sensibility about what restaurants as urban institutions, as parts of the city, can and should be. They're now part of modern and contemporary culture in a way that they have not been in the United States for a very long time. They're centerpieces. Cities seek out great restaurants, and people travel to eat at them. They characterize a particular cultural milieu and sensibility in the same way museums and concert halls and galleries and commercial venues and sports franchises—everything that makes a city distinct—do.
—Eva Hagberg
Posted 11.07.05
Photo: Quentin Bacon (the Modern)
Related Stories
The Venue Q&A: Craft's Tom Colicchio
The Venue Q&A: Cipriani's Arthur Backal
The Venue Q&A: Amy Sacco
The Modern
