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New York, NY – Rockwell Group, the New York-based architecture and design firm, designed Adour Alain Ducasse at The St. Regis New York, which premiered in January 2008 in the iconic hotel. With its state-of-the-art wine program, Adour provides guests who are just beginning their wine educations and oenophiles alike with a unique culinary and wine experience inside the intimate 2,500 square foot space.

Rockwell Group’s design concept for Adour emphasizes the diversity, characteristics and rituals related to wine. In addition, given the St. Regis’ stunning Beaux Arts structure, special care was taken to create an environment that is contemporary and dynamic while referencing the building’s architectural and historical context. Adour provides exciting opportunities for guests to familiarize themselves with the restaurant’s vast collection of wines, giving them the option to sample wines over dinner in the main dining room or at the four-seat wine bar.

Upon entering through a Makore wood portal, guests walk into a leather-wrapped vestibule and are greeted by a host stationed behind a custom-sculpted polished bronze stand. The cutting edge, four-seat wine bar is located towards the back of the vestibule. The intimate wine bar, called the Wine Library, features design elements in soft, golden hues. The bar is comprised of a sculpted bronze base covered by a parchment goatskin bar top and the back bar has bronze framed glass shelving that will display wine bottles, tasting glasses and a special collection of antique wine carafes. The far side of the bar features a floor-to-ceiling uplit vertical screen made from hand blown gold flecked glass spheres that are suspended on bronze cables.

At the bar, guests are able to learn about the intricacies of their wine selection in a playful and visual way by using a state-of-the-art computer program and projection system. The sommelier activates the wine list by touching the bar top; multiple projectors with motion sensor technology, recessed above the wood and leather ceiling soffit, beam a rosette icon onto the surface of bar. Guests may choose a wine and learn about their selection by touching one of the “petals” in the rosette icon. Each petal is designated with a topic related to that wine’s essentials, including origin, producer, varietal and the grape.

Inspired by a library reading room, Adour’s main dining area features armoires that help define the room and showcase a vast collection of wines from around the world. The existing architecture has been modernized with an innovative silver leaf covering, while the walls are sheathed with a backlit, seeded glass veil etched with an abstract grapevine pattern, allowing one to look through the new to the old.

Rich and tactile materials, including leathers in wine tones, have been chosen for the 72-seat dining area to create a warm, glowing atmosphere. A champagne-hued glass table is positioned in the center of the main dining room with a custom chandelier by Barovier suspended directly above. In addition, a custom-designed decanting station will be placed at each corner of the main dining room to allow guests to witness the sommelier’s process of preparing wine for service.

Each of the two corner spaces in the back of the main dining area have been transformed into oval-shaped dining rooms called the Left Bank and the Right Bank. Both rooms feature mirrored ceilings and fabric-covered walls. They are connected by the rectangular-shaped River Room, which features a five-panel mural in lustrous gold and lavender tones with inlaid mother of pearl by the acclaimed New York artist Nancy Lorenz. The mural depicts the story of the Adour River in southwestern France, which is near the birthplace of chef Alain Ducasse.

Located along one side of the main dining area is the Private Vault Room, a private dining area which seats up to 12 people. In the Private Vault Room, guests are seated around an 11-foot-long dining table with a white goatskin surface positioned under a sculptural element comprised of hand blown glass spheres suspended from the ceiling. The same interactive wine technology offered at the Wine Library is also featured in the Private Vault Room. The room also contains 50 leather-covered private wine vaults that enable guests to store either 12 bottles or 6 magnums and their personal wine accessories in ideal conditions. Guests who store their wine collections in the lockers will also be given a custom-designed album to record and preserve their revered wine labels.

About Rockwell Group – www.rockwellgroup.com
Founded more than 20 years ago by David Rockwell, Rockwell Group is an award winning, cross-disciplinary 220-person architecture and design practice based in New York. Rockwell Group specializes in hospitality, culture, theater, film and product design. Commissions include the JetBlue Airways terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport; the Elinor Bunin-Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center; a lobby and restaurant renovation at the Four Seasons in Washington, DC; Chambers hotel and Town restaurant.

(New York); W New York and W Union Square; the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards ceremony (Los Angeles); the Broadway musicals “Hairspray,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” and “Legally Blonde”; Sobella at Project City Center (Las Vegas); and numerous restaurants around the globe including Nobu Fifty Seven, Country, Bar American, Café Gray in New York; Nobu (Hong Kong, Dallas, Dubai), Xen in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills, and Gordon Ramsay’s Maze (London). His monograph, Pleasure: The Architecture and Design of Rockwell Group, was published by Universe, a division of Rizzoli Books in 2002. Spectacle, a book with Bruce Mau, was published by Phaidon Press in October 2006.

About St. Regis Hotels & Resorts
Combining classic sophistication and modern luxury, the St. Regis brand remains faithful to its commitment to excellence. Founded by John Jacob Astor IV, with the opening of the first St. Regis Hotel in New York City over a century ago, The St. Regis brand of hotels is known for its unique luxury dimension, customized service and refined elegance, in the best destinations worldwide. Plans for this brand to globally continue its legacy include long-awaited St. Regis properties in Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico, and Bal Harbour in the US. In Latin America, St. Regis will unveil new hotels and resorts in Buenos Aires and Kanai Riviera. In Asia, St. Regis has also announced plans to open properties in Bangkok, Chengdu, Kuala Lumpur, Lhasa, Nanjing, Osaka, Sanya Yalong Bay and Tianjin. In Africa and the Middle East, the St. Regis brand will continue to expand in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Doha and Mauritius. The distinctive trait of the St. Regis experience is customized service and attention, coveted locations and luxurious design. For more information on The St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, please visit the new www.stregis.com.