AIRPORT
BARS:
BRINGING MORE STYLE TO AIRPORTS
A
new trend at airports across the country is the emergence of stylish bars that
appeal to the fashionable tastes of today's business and leisure travelers. Accustomed
to chic hotel bars and the designer uniforms of JetBlue and Song flight attendants,
travelers are now finding world-class design at airport bars. New York's LaGuardia
Airport and Philadelphia International Airport exemplify the move towards including
stylish bars in the overall mix of bars, restaurants and shops at airports. Paul
McGinn, who heads MarketPlace Development, a Boston-Based airport retail developer,
attributes this shift in bar and restaurant design to the ongoing emphasis placed
by airports on customer service. "Knowing the customer is key", he said.
"Airports strive to meet the varying needs of their passengers. While many
customers are comfortable in traditional bar settings, other travelers are coming
to expect more sophisticated drinking and dining venues." McGinn added that
airports are now attracting
experienced bar and restaurant operators who are
adept at designing spaces that appeal to customers looking for an alternative
to the more traditional bars and restaurants commonly found at airports. At
LaGuardia Airport, two bars and restaurants in the Central Terminal stand out:
the Figs restaurant by celebrity chef Todd English - recently awarded "Best
Airport Restaurant Design" by Airport Revenue News, and the new Akoya Sushi
Bar and Lounge by Philadelphia-based OTG Management.
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| Figs |
Featuring
the creations of Todd English, one of America's top chefs and People Magazine's
50 Most Beautiful People, Figs overlooks LaGuardia's airfield from the Terminal's
central three-story atrium. The Figs menu showcases an array of innovative and
adventurous pizza, pasta and entrées highlighting English's signature,
inventive Mediterranean cuisine. Todd
English has mentioned that Figs is aimed at customers who have enough time to
relax before their flight and offers "a pretty hip look, as if the restaurant
were in Manhattan." He adds that it is "warm and inviting, more like
a lounge." Figs
was designed by noted restaurant designer Peter Niemitz, who has designed Carmine's,
Docks Oyster Bar and Virgil's Real BBQ in New York City and who created nine American-themed
restaurants for EuroDisney in Paris, France. His design approach for Figs features
large scale "furniture" in the form of a long bar and perimeter knee
walls in aniline stained maple. Upholstered lounge, high top and traditional dining
type seating offer
variety to the traveling guest. (CONTINUE...)
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