Before temporarily shuttering its doors due to the COVID-19 crisis in March (along with all New York restaurants), the six-month-old Asset had become a welcome addition to the dining scene near Manhattan’s Central Park and the American Museum of Natural History. According to early reports, its popularity stems from good food, an updated spin on New American cuisine, and a comfortably urbane interior by Bates Masi + Architects that blends industrial elements with a refined material palette—one that the food blog Eater says “sets it apart from family-friendly neighborhood spots.”
The judicious scheme should come as no surprise to those who know Bates Masi’s largely residential portfolio, though Asset is only its second restaurant project. (Their first was for the same client.) Based in East Hampton, Long Island, the architects have built a well-deserved reputation for designing relaxed, beautifully detailed modern houses that encapsulate what many city dwellers and locals envision when they think, “East End.” Several have appeared on these pages, with more than one Record House among them (April 2012 and June 2017). What is surprising, says principal Paul Masi, is that the firm was asked to design a city restaurant in the first place. “We had designed a home for the client and were up-front about our hospitality experience, which was none,” says Masi. “But he said, ‘If you can give half the energy to my restaurant that you gave to my house, I’d be excited to have you do it.’ ”
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