The Word on the Street

Annie Block, Mark McMenamin, and Meghan Edwards -- Interior Design, 9/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

On a stretch of Greenwich Village's MacDougal Street—long populated by such seedy strongholds as Addiction Tattoo, Off the Wagon Bar & Grill, and the Luxor Lounge, where $10 buys four shots—a subtle shift toward high design is afoot. In the vanguard was Minetta Tavern, a 1930's stalwart taken over last year by restaurateur Keith McNally, who retained the name, signage, and oak paneling and bar but installed his signature crimson leather on banquettes and black and white tile on the floor. Similar tile appears at Rino Ceronte, a snug gourmet sandwicherie by Roy Nachum, who also designed the mirror-image space next door: Super Hot Dog, wrapped in a comic strip starring a frankfurter hero. A block away, the Mermaid Oyster Bar, Chango Design's 56-seat restaurant, features pickled white-oak flooring that's meant to evoke the shore. Call it the MacDougal Riviera.

From top: Roy Nachum clad Super Hot Dog in epoxy-finished custom wallpaper printed with a cartoon. Ceiling panels of recycled oak at Rino Ceronte, also by Nachum. Louise Fili's logo for a newcomer, opening in late September.