It is early 1900 Manhattan. The industrial revolution is nearing its end and New York is flooded with European immigration. A world of culture, flavor, excitement and glamour. Sean’s Kitchen is this melting pot. Divided between the busy streetscape of the ‘Market Place’ and the smoky atmosphere of the ‘Distillery’.

With a budget of $4.5 million, the brief was to create a found object with the nostalgia of the ‘old world’. Each part has been hand crafted, telling its story of traditional tradesman-ship, to match with the honesty and craft of Sean Connolly’s own food offering.

With a strong emphasis on true materials.; Brass, steel, stone, leather, and timber, a focus on high quality finishes to last the test of time.

Alexander & Co worked closely with many trades people and artisans, as well as lighting designers, to bring the materials to life.

Sean’s Kitchen is the adaptive re-use of the North Terrace of the heritage-listed Adelaide Railway Station.

The ground floor, ‘The Market Place’, is a stroll through the Lower East Side, through the Meat Packing District, through Little Italy and Wall Street.

From the fascination of the Trader’s Bar, the open kitchens of the market place and the chopping block table and ‘ham museum’ of the butchery, The Market Place is a bustling and produce focused.

Alexander & Co responded to the heritage fabric and a low height mezzanine space with an additional venue, ‘The Distillery’. Creating exclusivity and sensuality with darkened timber, warm light on wine bottles, silk carpet runners and sumptuous leather upholstery.

Sean’s Kitchen is a fine example of engaging with materials and craft. Traditional crafts, such as leadlighting and specialist metalworking were introduced to respond to the brief and enhance the narrative.

The emphasis is on a high quality and lasting interior, far removed from the concept of the interior ‘fit out’ that is built to last a limited cycle, before being ‘defit’ and reimagined. The space is varied and layered and expected to patina and age.

Alexander & Co responded to a need to enhance the human experience, to create an almost theatrical interaction with a space.

Sean’s Kitchen is Alexander & Co’s re-imagining of a lost New York city scape, a forgotten time when above all else quality was the cornerstone of experience. Each portion of Sean’s Kitchen is rich in experience; from the glitzy Traders Bar, walking past the street lamp lit park benches, the lead-light windows and luggage racks of the kitchen, the traditional cooking line, the old butcher shop, the museum of the hams and up to the mezzanine distillery and private dining This experience should be a discovery, a story telling in which every moment should be a rediscovery of lost traditions.