How the owners and designer behind HAGS turned a famous — and famously dark and cramped — Momofuku space into a colorful restaurant that’s decidedly queer
My first time walking into HAGS, a queer fine dining destination in the East Village, I thought I would be flooded with memories. I thought it would be obvious what it had been, the bones of its previous life pushing through the skin of its walls. But among the bar’s drapery, the soft booths, the lime green accents and the heart-shaped pink lights that adorn each table, it felt like a singular space, something new and weird and decidedly queer.
But then again, it’s rare to find a Manhattan restaurant space that doesn’t have problems. Carpenter, who had a hand in helping find 163 First Avenue, says that despite its shortcomings, it had potential. “They always knew that they wanted the space to be small and intimate,” says Carpenter. “I think because it really enables them to have just work-life balance and staff treatment, that was really essential to their ethos.
Of course, the biggest challenges weren’t the sexy ones: 163 First Avenue needed almost a complete demolition. The HVAC system was busted. The plumbing was old. “Deciding that it was imperative to design the space for ADA compliance, and it being such an incredibly small space, there were a lot of surprise factors of like, how do we get one more inch?” says Justice.
For Justice, however, the best part of the remodel was the exterior, which transformed the black, thatched metal gateway to Momofuku into a psychedelic, Gaudí-esque opening. “It’s so inviting, this concave, punched-out, sloping portal into like this other world off the street,” she says. “You enter it and you come into this little den, I think it’s really transportive.
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