RES
ANTIQUA

Joined La Colombe in its formative years — the second person ever hired. Developed the first New York cafes from the ground up, guiding every phase from concept and design to fabrication, construction, and daily operations.

The work was as much brand as operations. Recontextualizing La Colombe for New York meant understanding the city’s visual and cultural language — evolving the typography, signage, materials, objects. Hand-painted gold leaf signage. Moroccan Zellige tile. Custom black Deruta ceramics from a 100-year-old Majolica tradition in Umbria. Kissa-style horn speakers co-developed with Devon Turnbull — before listening rooms were a concept.

Each decision was specific, considered, ahead of its time. The spaces opened as destinations. What was introduced there — the materials, objects, collaborations — set a standard the industry still builds from.

Partner 2007. Led first four NYC locations, collaborated on thirteen across four cities.
$5 million to over $100 million in valuation.

Alongside partner Nicholas O’Connell, conducted the original coffee tasting with Ralph Lauren. Consulted Ralph’s Coffee on selection and operations: equipped the team with a comprehensive blueprint, spanning menu development, bar design and operational flow, custom equipment, and protocols — while personally selecting and preparing the cafe manager and lead barista to a successful launch.

The work went beyond a cafe. It was making a luxury brand fluent in coffee, without losing what made it Ralph Lauren.

Separately, ideated and pitched the H-Van mobile espresso program at La Colombe — a vintage Citroën H van reimagined as a moving cafe, built for culture, not marketing. It became a fixture at underground activations like the Red Hook Criterium. Ralph Lauren recognized the concept, acquired it, painted it green, and made it Ralph’s Coffee by Ralph Lauren on Fifth Avenue. The original cafe is still in service at Rockefeller Center.

Over a decade ago, before wider recognition, I commissioned Devon Turnbull’s first commercial speaker installation: Jazz Kissa-style horns for a cafe project on 4th and Lafayette.

Music isn’t background. It’s architecture — it creates the environment that can make or break an experience. It’s culture. A room designed around how it sounds and feels, not just how it looks.

My father: a musician and my mother: Japanese. After spending time in Japan, Jazz Kissa culture resonated with me — and I wanted it to be a natural extension in the third New York project I was designing. Devon shared the affinity for old and new world, traditional vintage Japanese speaker systems using vintage Altec Lansing horns — pairing a beautiful aesthetic with a warm sound that fills the room.

Since then, it’s become near-standard for cafes and hospitality programs worldwide to bring this into their design. Watching Devon Turnbull become world-renowned is gratifying. This was the origin.

Collaborated with Michael Maharam on the Alexander Girard exhibition — a 2,000 square foot pop-up presenting Girard's broad historical body of work alongside new pieces recontextualized by his grandchildren, Los Angeles designers themselves. Created the cafe concept and beverage menu for the exhibition, then hired and trained the operations team to bring it to life. Design history and hospitality, composed together.