TOP RESTAURANT DESIGN 2008
Park Avenue

It's a novel concept to design a restaurant space that changes every spring, summer, winter and fall. But it’s the execution of the seasonal transitions that make us give Park Avenue its due. The brainstorm of design firm AvroKO (also responsible for Public and The Stanton Social), the quadrennial makeovers are so thorough that everything sees a shift—from the restaurant awning to the graphics (that means menus, matches, business cards, cocktail napkins) to the seating arrangement of the dining room to tabletops and server uniforms. Even the soap in the restrooms isn't safe when the final days of a season hits.

The architects took their cues from the travels of Captain James Cook, framing each season in his spirit of discovery. Summer references the Galapagos Islands, and guests see shells, maps and whitewashed wood. Autumn brings a classic, woodsy warmth, playing up cocoa and copper colors. Park Avenue Winter follows Cook's travels to the Antarctic Circle; crystal, glass and even vintage British military buttons are just some of the mixed media that blow into winter. As Park Avenue Spring rings in, true English garden inspiration grows wild with raw vegetation. To everything, there is a season....