food

Mets Stadium

Anyone who knows me can tell you I have very little interest in sports. Nevertheless, I have been to Citi Field a handful of times and when I got the call to shoot for the Mets Stadium I was very excited. It was definitely one of the more unique shoots, wherein we were shooting in one of the vip lounges and there were more staff from the stadium then I had ever seen congregated for a single shoot - at least a dozen, if not more, were on standby. The team was ready to step up to the plate!

LaGuardia Chase Sapphire Lounge

As a seasoned traveler, I find joy when realizing I can access a lounge at an airport from which I am departing, and although I seldom fly out of LGA, I was able to experience what may be the best lounge I have experienced in a domestic terminal. Flashback to six months before when I photographed in this space and was only marveled by the appearance and selection the kitchen offered. Suffice to say it all tastes as good as it looks.

NAKS

The quality of food in a restaurant is so important but an interior and vibe can compliment or exceed a diner’s experience. Such is the case with NAKS, which has a gorgeous dining room where the communal Kamayan feasts are served to diners without utensils. It seems like this sort of palm-laden interior was co-opted by Tiki culture and bars for years, so it’s nice to see if in embraced by a restaurant whose Filipino culture was used to inspire the Tiki world in the first place.

Hoexter's

Hoexter’s is a very stylish Upper East Side Brasserie, with the same management group as the previously shared Il Totano. When photographing food, it’s great to have a hand model on standby but rarely is it the case that you’ll have one with beautifully tattooed hands that so perfectly interplay with the food at hand.

Carnitas Ramirez

As a Greenpoint resident, and Los Angeles native/taco snob, I’ve always been a huge fan of Taqueria Ramirez and was super excited when The Infatuation asked me to cover the new restaurant from the crew, Carnitas Ramirez. Very similar in size/build/style to the Greenpoint counterpoint, the small shop features only pork based tacos from all parts of the pig - all very delicious.

Il Totano

From chef Harold Dieterle comes Il Totano, a west village Italian restaurant with a gorgeous interior and beautifully seafood-focused dishes. This may have been discussed in another post but, usually, when I’m faced with a restaurant that, often always, I am experiencing for the first time, I tend to choose lighting that compliments the space and the vibe. When the entrees are climbing into the $40 range, I often tend to use a softer light which, to me, feels a little more elegant. However, given the bright colors of the food and the interiors, I convinced the team to allow me to use a harder light that would create some shadows but also allow me to use the glassware/drinks to create a glossier and fresh look that I think makes all the dishes more appealing and somewhat conjures the feeling of eating seafood on a sun-drenched balcony overlooking the Italian Riviera.

The Caboose

The Caboose is an event venue in Hudson, NY that has fashioned an old farm, across the street from the Amtrak station, into a beautiful space. Of course, the food available for guests is even more beautiful. When I photographed this space, it wasn’t communicated to me that I would be shooting food but I was able to attach my strobe to my tripod and rig some aluminum foil as a beauty dish and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Tatiana Nike Lincoln Center Event

Back in October, Nike hosted the World Basketball Festival at Lincoln Center, home to Tatiana, a restaurant named the best in NYC in 2023 by the New York Times. Kwame Onwuachi, the restaurant’s chef and proprietor teamed with catering masters CxRA to provide a dinner for the opening of the festival with the lovely backdrop of the Lincoln Center plaza.

Superfrico

Speigelworld has produced some modern adult-driven cabaret/circus-style performances in Las Vegas and, somewhat, recently opened a location in Atlantic City, with their adjacent restaurant, Superfrico. Although there is also a Superfrico in Las Vegas, the menus varies slightly and the team was in need of photography of the dishes and the spaces below.

The US Open

As Chase was a sponsor of last year’s US Open, so too did Chase-owned The Infatuation have a hand in the event, which meant a ton of exciting and new food. As part of the Infatuation’s list of Where to Eat at The US Open, I photographed dishes from the various vendors at the “Flavors of the Open” event, some of which were household NYC names, while others were compact versions of high-profile restaurants.

Gilligan's

Gilligan’s is an outdoor oasis of a bar/restaurant at the Soho Grand Hotel. The client wanted their images to have a softness to them so, against my normal routine (and preferences), we shot only using natural light which did create a certain aesthetic that I’m happy to produce, but not the biggest fan of. It worked for the client, so it worked for me.

Smorgasburg

Food deliver service ChowNow has partnered with NYC staple Smorgasburg to provide secret menu items from each of their vendors. As someone who lives not far from Smorgasburg, it was a nice feather in my cap to be asked to shoot something I’ve known and attended for years (with a quick commute to boot!).

Sundaes Best

Sundaes Best is a Korea Town ice cream fixture from the owners of Baek Jeong KBBQ . It features diverse flavors, some of which are Korean, and a cheery, pink interior. This shoot was a little difficult since the ice cream containers were covered with a glass exterior, until I realized we could open the front windows and sneak the camera into the opening. Glass and flash are not a great photographic combination!