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Born in Transylvania, raised in Jerusalem and educated in Milan, Adam Tihany has designed many of the world’s finest hotels, restaurants and spas. Tihany and world-class cuisine go hand-in-hand — the designer’s clients include famed chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller. Though each Tihany-designed property is unique and incorporates the proprietor’s philosophy, they all share Tihany’s elegant and sleek style. Here are a few of his top designs:
Daniel in New York City. Chef Daniel Boulud’s eponymous Five-Star restaurant underwent a design overhaul in 2008, and Tihany brought a renewed sense of modernity to the famed Manhattan eatery. Leaving the building in tact, Tihany introduced soft, curved banquette seats, glass light boxes and branch-like protrusions to give Daniel a subtle yet refined feel that matches the exquisite French cuisine.
per se in New York City. When Thomas Keller opened per se in 2004, he did more than just recreate his Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry — the chef teamed up with Tihany to bring diners a whole new experience. per se has the feel of an upscale living room, complete with a fireplace and grand views of Central Park. However, the Five-Star restaurant pays homage to The French Laundry with a direct allusion via the famous blue front door.
Twist by Pierre Gagnaire in Las Vegas. The first foray into the United States by acclaimed chef Pierre Gagnaire, Twist joined the ranks of Five-Stars in 2011. The dining space offers views of the famous Las Vegas Strip through its floor-to-ceiling windows, but the cracked-egg motif (seen in the wall mural and decorative plates) and the 300 effervescent orbs above will be sure to catch your eye as well — that is, when you’re not busy with the haute cuisine.
Jean Georges, New York City. During the day, natural light pours into chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Five-Star New York restaurant. And as night falls, the glittering chandelier designed by L’Observatoire International softly refracts light off the vaulted silver-leaf ceiling. The room itself observes restraint, though you’ll have a hard time doing the same when your meal begins.
Aureole Las Vegas, Las Vegas. Few sites in Las Vegas are as at once visually striking and inherently functional as the 42-foot-tall wine tower inside Aureole Las Vegas. The perfectly cooled tower houses up to 10,000 bottles of wine and catsuit-clad “wine angels” float vertically to retrieve your vintage of choice. Though chef Charlie Palmer and Tihany worked together on the restaurant of the same name in New York, the wine tower is unique to the Four-Star restaurant inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino.
Photos courtesy of DanielNYC, PerSe, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Aureole Las Vegas.
