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“Colors”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	East Village	Moderate	Good

countries have created a cooperatively owned and operated restaurant in which every worker shares an equity stake. (Every worker has the same stake based on100 hours of sweat equity.) As owners, they receive a share of the profits and supervise the running of the restaurant through an elected board. They also make a minimum of $13.50 an hour, far above the industry average. It’s a concept that feels like it should have happened many years ago.

The restaurant was developed in conjunction with the Restaurant Opportunity Center (ROC) of New York, an organization formed by former Windows on the World staff after 9/11 to improve working conditions for all restaurant workers. (ROC continues to help all restaurant workers with health insurance, job placement, career counseling, and all sorts of legal issues, including the recent suit against Shelly Fireman and the Red Eye Grill. The complaint alleges unfair labor practices, underpaid wages, and sexual harassment.) If Colors is a success, ROC hopes to extend this cooperative model of employee ownership to other restaurant ventures within the US, integrating elements of sustainable agriculture and support for local producers as key business principles.

Colors was designed by James Walrod (Pace) and Dine Murphy Wood (architects) with a swanky, 1930’s Art Deco diner vibe. There are wide cozy booths, round globe-shaped lights strung from the ceiling, and walls covered in beveled glass painted with maps of the world, a nod to the 24 countries represented by the restaurant’s employees. (Don’t be put off by the heavy black doors that are the entry to Colors. The façade is only temporary, a product of permits issues with the landmarks commission. The doors should be replaced by an open glass façade by April.)

Like the design, the menu also mirrors the restaurant’s global citizenship. Every employee-owner donated a favorite national dish to chef Raymond Mohan (Chicama, Pipa, Patria, and Plantain) who tweaked the recipes, dressing them up a bit for a New York audience. (The menu will change throughout the year so that every employee’s dish has a chance to be represented.)

Take for instance, the Pam Thai ($12), a Pad Thai recipe from an employee from Thailand named Pam. It was fantastic. Tender chicken is pulled and shredded and thrown in with long beans, green papaya, and fat toasted cashews, all tossed in a juicy citrus chili d ... [more, click below]

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Posted: March 12, 2006

Other restaurants in East Village :
+ Yujin-- Closed   + Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar   + Mermaid Inn   + Five Points   + Lavagna   + Five Points   + Bond Street   + Jewel Bako   + Alphabet Kitchen   + In Vino   + Bao 111   + Chikalicious   + Il Buco   + Hearth   + Lima's Taste   + Mercadito   + Hedeh   + Momofuku   + Una Pizza Napoletana   + Winebar   + Uovo-- CLOSED   + Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction   + Gotham Bar & Grill   + Colors   + Chinatown Brasserie   + Knife and Fork   + European Union-- NEW CHEF; SEE APRIL 2007 Review   + Aroma Kitchen and Winebar   + Stand   + European Union   + Mercat   + Gemma   + Back Forty   + The Smith   + Seymour Burton   + Belcourt   + Graffiti   + The Redhead   + Double Crown    + Apiary   + Joe Doe   + Apiary by guest reviewer Kiri Tannenbaum   + DBGB   + Northern Spy   + Goat Town   + Saxon + Parole   + Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria   + Acme   + Calliope   + Nicoletta   + JEPPNEY by Claire Jaffe   + Feast   

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