SakaMai
CHALLENGE: SakaMai was the challenge. We were restaurant operators before we were designers by trade. We started up, designed, built, and operated SakaMai for three years before handing it over entirely to the management team. Though this was trial by fire, knowing the inner workings of a restaurant and bar gives us an edge over other interior design firms.
SOLUTION: SakaMai started off as a sake lounge but needed a full renovation two years after opening to accommodate a growing dining crowd. SakaMai’s design is inspired by the Japanese sake culture as well as its location on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which is New York City urban in its entire sense–hip, novel, and a little grungy.
We hand crafted our well recognized bar out of Kikusui hammered turquoise glass sake bottles and copper plumbing pipes. We also designed the logo and its website and continue to handle their social media accounts. SakaMai has since become wildly popular amongst the local and tourist crowd of NYC due to social media campaigns pushing its curated sake program and trend setting dishes, Egg on Egg on Egg and Wagyu Katsu Sandwich.
