After exploring the great hotels and cafés of Europe, Jon Neidich of Golden Age Hospitality knew that the same quality and care in a restaurant would succeed in Brooklyn. Le Crocodile, the new French eatery in the Wythe Hotel, aims to recreate that spirit in Williamsburg: The restaurant blends the café culture of Paris or Vienna with the culinary chops of a great bistro. “Our inspirations were looking at the cafés and brasseries of Europe, that light mix and airiness to the spaces,” Neidich tells AD PRO. “There was a level of elegance that we wanted to bring out.”

To execute that vision, Neidich tapped designer Loren Daye of design studio Love Is Enough. AD PRO caught up with Daye to hear more about how she pulled off the project in just three months.

AD PRO: Tell us about how you were brought on to do this project.

Loren Daye: I know Jon through mutual acquaintances and friends. We had talked about doing a handful of different projects together and had stayed in touch. It felt like a very natural thing when he had the opportunity to work on this project. The moment he and the team brought me on was the day that the owners were leaving on a world tour of European hotels and restaurants. We all looked at the space and decided that there were such incredible bones. We wanted to respond to that in a respectful way, but with higher touch in general, and a more textured narrative. We wanted it to be warm and inviting, but still be historical or Old World, in a way.

AD PRO: As you narrowed in on the idea of a European-inspired eatery, what were some of the ideas that came to mind?

LD: We wanted it to be one grand room, and work[ed] on the progression of spaces as you enter. You have these different experiences throughout. I had lived in Italy for some years, and had a lot of references to Berlin and Vienna that I thought were really interesting in the context of the all-day café.

We started with the ambition of creating a welcoming space. We talked about how you move through it in a more formalized way. The banquettes were so important because we really wanted them to feel like furniture and separate each area. We moved very quickly—I worked for seven years at Ace Hotel Group as creative director, so I have a lot of experience moving quickly. We were able to metabolize conversations with very different sensibilities too.

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AD PRO: You took out one of the walls in the restaurant, which opened up the room. How did you integrate everything?

LD: I really, really wanted to get rid of the tile, and said, “Let’s lay a new tile floor.” It’s gray, green, and red. Originally, we had a different palette [in mind] that was very green. Now, [the existing floor] is incredible—something about taking down the wall gave everything a different identity.

AD PRO: The three big lighting fixtures were also already in the space. How did you work those into your design plan for Le Crocodile?

LD: I value efficiency. I suggested we take the existing chandeliers and move them around the other two, so we have these three big prominent lighting pieces. They’re really beautiful, and I thought we weren’t making enough of them. Now they’re part of the procession of the space and really make the dining room.

Name: Le Crocodile

Design Team: Love Is Enough

Size: 1,650 square feet

Timeline: 3 months

Location: Williamsburg, New York

Biggest-Ticket Item: “Custom millwork.”

Smallest-Ticket Item: "Fabricated glassware made from lamp parts."

Biggest challenge during the process: “The timeline.”

An idea you almost went with: “We were going to make green a larger theme throughout the project.”