The Museum of Arts and Design will open a new pop-up wine bar, MADCrush, that combines the best of food, design, and wine. Created in collaboration with designer Stephanie Goto and Crush Wine & Spirits, the bar will transform MAD’s seventh-floor special events space offering spectacular views of Central Park and Columbus Circle. MADCrush will only be open on five Thursdays through the end of August from 5:00pm until 10:30pm. Goto has created an imaginative dining environment with temporary furniture and decor constructed from recycled wine boxes. A roster of New York’s best chefs, including Mark Ladner, Scott Conant, George Mendes, and Cesare Casella, will provide a menu of small plates accompanied by a selection of fine wines curated by Crush and served in recyclable govino glasses.
“MADCrush is a project that combines many of our interests as a museum,” said Holly Hotchner, Nanette L. Laitman Director of the museum. “In our exhibitions and programs, and now with our wine bar, we explore new design trends as they emerge. We couldn’t be happier to have some of the city’s best chefs and wine professionals come to the museum to share their craft. Stephanie Goto’s design for this temporary space is remarkable, and absolutely in keeping with our curatorial interest in how materials are transformed through the creative process.”
Goto’s design, a collaboration with her friend Takeshi Miyakawa, includes bars and tables crafted from repurposed wine boxes, a seating landscape made from corrugated cardboard wine box dividers and a textured wall made of wine box inserts that doubles as a changeable menu peg board. The design embraces the temporary spirit of the event as all of the components literally “pop up.” Elements are modular, collapsible, and stackable and can be packed up and neatly stored in a closet between events. The creative repurposing of existing materials, a concept that MAD explored in depth with its special exhibition Second Lives, is also an abiding interest of the designer’s.
“This project re-imagines the possibilities of materiality, how materials, still true to their original form, can be transformed so that they can be perceived in a different way,” Goto explained.
The MADCrush menu will change each week, with a different chef providing light cuisine and a tailored selection of wines chosen by Crush Wine & Spirits. Chef Mark Ladner of Del Posto will provide the menu for the opening night on July 30. Scott Conant of Scarpetta, George Mendes of Aldea, and Cesare Casella of Salumeria Rossi will take turns cooking for subsequent sessions. Crush Managing Partner, Bob Schagrin, and his team will work from the menu to showcase their award-winning selections, as well as share their favorite ‘off the beaten path’ wines, available by the taste, glass, and bottle.
“We’re delighted to be working on this project with MAD and Stephanie Goto,” said Crush Managing Partner Bob Schagrin. “Stephanie is one of New York’s young leading designers. Her vision for MADCrush not only fits MAD’s mission but highlights her creativity to use everyday materials and re-imagine them into a playful sensory experience that embraces this one-of-a-kind New York institution.”
