In the race to attract diners, Big Apple restaurateurs are spending big bucks to transform their newly expanded outdoor seating areas from urban jungle to the South of France.
Ugly city scaffolding at Marea on Central Park South has disappeared under an intricate swath of vines popping with blue and white flowers.
The Catch rooftop in the Meatpacking District and Lola Taverna in the West Village are both literally dripping flowers, while Fresco by Scotto, which reopens next month, has been transformed into a Capri lemon grove.
The striking installations can cost $30,000 to $40,000, but it’s worth it, restaurateurs say, because it boosts revenue by drawing in diners eager to forget they’re eating in a former parking spot.
Plus, the new nature-meets-urban landscapes are the perfect draw for social media pics.
At Fresco by Scotto, which reopens in June, the Scotto family has spent more than $100,000 on their new outdoor space, which is filled with lemon trees to resemble Da Paolino, a famous Italian restaurant in Capri.
“Midtown is dead. We knew we had to up our game and build a spectacular place,” Elaina Scotto told Side Dish. “A designer could take a year, so we called our friend Larry Scott.”
Scott, a top event planner, told Side Dish he created a “Europe-meets-the-Hamptons-meets-New York City vibe.” for after the pandemic.
“It’s an escape from the city, a jewel of tranquility — until you turn around and see Duane Reade and the cement,” Scott quipped.
Although $100,000 sounds like a big investment, Scotto says “it will pay back almost immediately,” including through rentals for private parties.
Marea on Central Park South was a leader of the urban floral trend taking over Manhattan, having installed its vines last July during a dark time for the industry.
“The idea came from our circumstance, the scaffolding and a bus lane,” said Ahmass Fakahany, founder and CEO of the Altamarea Group, which owns Marea.
“I spent some time walking around Central Park and decided not to give up and close Marea but to see if we could turn it around into something beautiful.”
“It was a time when people wanted positivity,” Fakahany said of the period when restaurants were first allowed to resume limited sit-down dining outdoors. “It was an investment in our survival and our future, and it brought in a lot of new clients who wanted to be part of the experience.”
After transforming Cafeteria’s white, modern outdoor space, which seats 200 people outside and 100 people inside, with branches and a romantic pergola, sales increased 30 percent, said restaurateur Mark Amadei of the Chelsea eatery.
“The streets were getting a little bleak,” Amadei said. “New York is about reinventing itself again and again and again.”
Spiro Menegatos, of Nerai, also says his $40,000 floral installation above his pandemic-inspired outdoor eating pergola will pay for itself.
“I don’t have a baseline to compare it to because we never had the space before, but I think people come here because of it,” Menegatos said. “If you stand here for an hour, you’ll see 20 people stop and take pictures. We have a bench with a sign and it definitely helps create buzz.”
The floral installations at Marea, Cafeteria, Nerai, Lola Taverna and Catch were created by Carlos Franqui, a fashion stylist-turned-founder of Floratorium, whose striking floral exteriors seem to serve as sirens to people walking by.
“People walking by will stop to take photographs,” Franqui said. “It’s free advertising. People share pictures, and it brings in more business.”
Even Martha Stewart has stopped to snap a few shots of his work, he said.
“When Mother Martha stopped to snap and share our work, that was a very reassuring moment,” Franqui said.
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