Hale + Hearty Take-out Gourmet Food Shop
client: Schnipper Family
location: New York, NY | size: 1,200 sq ft | opened: 1990
The original Hale and Hearty is a gourmet, take-out food shop on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, specializing in low fat, low sodium, and low cholesterol products. For this project, Mindy acted as project architect in collaboration with Larry Bogdanow Associates, and she designed the front of the house where retail workers and customers reside.
The restaurant had to reflect the sophistication and integrity of the clients, their care and attention to detail, and the healthy, good taste of the food. Mindy’s concept was a cross between Shaker furniture and Charles Rennie Mackintosh interiors; the uniting of simple function with emotionally evocative, organic form. The materials of construction are as non-synthetic, clean, and as unfinished as possible. There is a judicious use of handcrafted detail and warm colors, and the place functions well even under the press of large crowds. This shop has been so successful that the owners have since opened up branches throughout Manhattan, helping more hearts in the Big Apple.