At the base of One Vanderbilt, one of the city’s newest monolith’s, lies the entrance to Le Pavillion, from the Boulud restaurant group. With towering windows facing Grand Central and the Chrysler building, the space itself is full of flora which creates a serene garden atmosphere for guests.
I actually photographed Saga twice - once when they first opened to cover a story about their space and their impressive wrap around balcony with stunning views. Apparently their food is quite good and I returned to shoot the food as well as some night views, which were quite spectacular.
The Independent is a midtown-gastropub owned by The Stout Hospitality group. As one might imagine, in addition to all sorts of elevated bar-fare, the restaurant is known for their mixology and beer selection. These photos were taken for The Stout Hospitality Group for the marketing of The Independent.
Tampopo Kitchen is a family-run sushi and Japanese restaurant in Washington Heights, who have seen great success with their nearby sister restaurant, Tampopo Ramen. In addition to sushi, Tampopo Kitchen also serves ramen and other noodle dishes. These photos were taken for Tampopo Kitchen’s marketing.
As a food photographer, you don’t often get to eat the food. It gets cold, it’s not fully cooked, or you’re just too busy shooting and trying to get to your next gig. As a non-motorist, I’m always trying to keep my load light, and put as few things in my hands as possible when I travel, so when I am asked by a restaurant if I want to take something to go, I always want to answer “yes” but I am often burdened with having to bring the food and all my gear with me, and if I’m going to another shoot, I feel it would be uncouth to present myself with a doggie bag. Nevertheless, the stars aligned at this shoot where I was able to try the food, and take some home, and it was delicious. This shoot was assigned by Eater and you can view more and read more about this wonderful restaurant here. Here are some shots that didn’t make it to the website, and some that did:
When photographing produce, it can sometimes be helpful to look at things on a smaller scale to photograph the details and brings those to life - making those smaller things larger than life. That was the goal in shooting for Italian grocery store, Agata + Valentina, who has a varied selection of global and Italian foods.
Greta had popped up in my neighborhood and, after striking up a conversation with the owner at their opening, we discussed photography and a few weeks later I was helping Greta get set up. This micro coffee shop serves delicious Israeli/Mediterranean dishes with their own coffee in a delightfully designed nook. In addition to the dishes, I was tasked to also shoot their interiors and beverages.
Similarly to Lexus’s Intersect, the car manufacturer, Genesis, created a space to showcase their product, as well as bring in Seoul-exclusive restaurant brand Onijum to the space. This was photographed for Eater NY and you can read more about it here. Here are some outtakes from the shoot:
Agata + Valentina is a wonderful Italian market with locations in Greenwich Village and the Upper East Side and they produce, one of my vices, terrific Italian sandwiches - but, like any good grocer, they also cater and provide plenty of holiday wares for Thanksgiving or, as one does in Italy, your Feast of the Seven Fishes. Here are some photos from a recent shoot we did in the store, with the help of a 2-light set-up and paper backgrounds.
With a bit of a sweet tooth, I was very excited to arrive at Thierry Atlan’s production facility - a chocolate factory. In addition to shooting the product, I photographed the process of macaron and chocolate production. It was tricky to get a large soft box and light stand around all the machinery, but it really helped to deliver a more outstanding light source than the sometimes bland, but usually reliable fluorescent lights.
What once was a pizza pop-up is now a permanent fixture in the back space of The Bedford, Macchina serves delicious pizzas and wonderful cocktails in a charmingly rustic space. I photographed the interiors and drinks for the space and there’s a warm charm in the space that I attempted to capture.
I was recently tasked to shoot a dinner party and the food and beverage accompaniments of said dinner at Nomad’s Sona, for FIOL, a sparkling wine company. As I couldn’t set up a softbox on the dinner table, I secured an 8” side table and a colorfully wallpapered corner of the room. As the dishes came out for the diners, I had about 30 seconds to steal one of the plates and take a shot. Usually in these shoots I am given plenty of time as the dishes get cold and unflattering over time, but these dishes had to be eaten after I shot them so it was a race against the clock.
The prestigious Carlyle has opened a new space which I was fortunate enough to shoot for their marketing collaterals. This was one of the first shoots that I started using my 100mm macro lens, which if of of the few prime lenses in my arsenal. For efficiency, I’m usually using zoom lenses (including my 24-70mm) but having an entire restaurant closed for the shoot allowed for plenty of space to move around, which allowed for greatly flexibility using a less flexible lens.
