We at Atelier86 have a standing Friday date night. Even during the dark days of March and April we would order in from our favorite restaurants to enjoy a well prepared meal as well as to support neighborhood small business. As the City began to open up, we frequented our favorite outdoor dining haunts. Some evenings it was warmer or wetter than we might like but were grateful to be able to eat out – come rain or shine!

Winter comes to NYC; the infection rate is up and the dark covid winter of 2020 begins to settle in. All may seem lost but NYC is seeing a variety of innovations in outdoor dining. We should never doubt that our intrepid and nimble small business owners would find creative ways to meet the needs of their guests! (Don’t forget staff. Many of these ideas are coming from the waitstaff and maitre’d)
As these structures started going up, a healthy competition came into play. Who could outdo the next?


Something more sturdy

Sophisticated Lean-To

Alpine Ski Chalet


Irish Farm House

Tuscan Villa

All of this is a tribute to the resourcefulness and resiliency of the New York community. I am looking forward to the next iteration. So much so that perhaps there should be a design competition?
More to come