Located in New York’s Lower East Side, this project presented the unusual challenge of designing a 22-seat restaurant in a tiny 420-square-foot room where the ceiling is higher than the space is wide. In order to counter the potentially claustrophobic dimensions of this space, LTL decided to make the ceiling the dominant feature of the project. The ceiling was designed to create a topographical effect that evoked an inverted field of sea grass. This effect was achieved by aggregating 110,000 bamboo skewers in carefully calculated patterns to form a dense intricate ceiling seascape. Various other types of bamboo are used throughout the space; caramelized bamboo flooring folds up to become the booth seats and banquette backs, and a lighter shade of bamboo flooring covers the upper half of the banquette wall. Individual planks pull away from the wall, revealing lights. The bottom half of each table is translucent acrylic, which pipes the light of a candle encased in the bamboo plywood top to the edge of the table. The table magnifies the candle light, intensifying the most flattering form of restaurant lighting. (LTL)