Vandal
The popular new downtown eatery, Vandal, marks the latest venture by the TAO Group and Chef Chris Santos. Located in the heart of the Bowery, Vandal “celebrates the art, architecture, and food of global street culture from New York to Vietnam to Barcelona and beyond,” according to its website. The new restaurant is a result of collaboration between The Rockwell Group and UK-based graffiti artist HUSH, according to The Spaces, and features a catacomb-esque design with features a bar, lounge, flower shop, secret garden. Rich Wolf, the founder of the TAO Group, said of Vandal’s launch: “The idea of bringing street food and street art together under one roof struck me like a bolt of lightning.”
Vandal boasts a 22,000 square foot space with “site-specific murals” created by six different street artists. The famed Shepard Fairey designed the restaurant’s Secret Garden, which is closed off by glass garage doors and features wheat-pasted propaganda-style posters throughout. Inside, an 11-foot sculpture of a breakdancing rabbit serves as the light of the — literal — long, valued brick tunnel. HUSH told The Spaces, “I wanted to bring the outside inside. I wanted to represent street aesthetics and show how artists take over spaces.”
Reservations for Vandal can be made online.
