Dinner at the Drawing Board

GREAT DESIGN IS inspirational: It inspires, comforts and excites. It’s provocative and, most of all, it moves emotions. Great design dares to be different but not different for the sake of being different. It must work, make sense and communicate a compelling message.

Whether it’s a retail store or a restaurant, when visitors cross the threshold, they should be transported to another place, time and state of mind. Shirokuro, a Japanese restaurant opened in March at 103 Second Avenue and Sixth Street in New York’s East Village, is not simply different – it works, it makes sense and it’s a tool of communication. Moreover, the environment is also theirs and theirs alone.

In today’s high-tech digital world, crossing the threshold at Shirokuro takes diners from digital sensibilities into two-dimensional, black-and-white sensations. A transformative experience in a dizzying, latest and greatest technology world, Shirokuro is a portal from computer screen fantasies into black-and-white drawing board realities.

Instagrammable moments abound in a two-dimensional environment featuring white tabletops playfully outlined in black to create an almost comic book-like world. It’s like stepping into an animation featuring Japanese imagery with delicate bonsai trees, tiled roofs and eaves, and elegant geishas decked out in traditional Japanese garb. Waiters dressed in black-on-black attire perfectly fit into the animated vibe.

The name Shirokuro is derived from the Japanese words shiro (white), and kuro (black). By design, the black-and-white environment serves as the perfect stage for the colorful omakase dishes served by highly skilled chefs. The stark white tabletops and perimeter walls emphasize the vibrant colors of the sushi.

With Korean ownership, Japanese chefs and an environment conceived by Korean designer Miriam Yoo, the restaurant is a beautiful study and collaboration of two cultures. As such, the menu consists of foods that are delicate and artfully presented. In a further celebration of cultural blending, the waiter spoke four different languages: Korean, Japanese, French and English. Shirokuro is a beautiful illustration of impactful design.

PHOTO GALLERY (6 IMAGES)
PHOTOS: ERIC FEIGENBAUM