"I’ve always been obsessed with design, since I was a kid," says Andy Baraghani. "I love how restaurant interiors can take you to a different place."
At Ditto, the all-day café he is opening in New York’s Flatiron neighborhood, the chef, cookbook author, and YouTube star has given that passion free rein. With every design choice—from the vintage glass-prism Holophane pendants hanging in the front window to the intense blue of the rear dining area’s Venetian plaster walls, tinted to match Benjamin Moore Buckland Blue—he subjected each idea to a simple personal litmus test: "Would I actually do this in my home?" If the answer was affirmative, the concept passed the evaluation and moved forward.
For Baraghani, the world of design is deeply personal and somewhat of a family affair. His husband, Keith Pollock, is a former editorial leader at Architectural Design and now an executive at West Elm. Yet despite this domestic immersion in aesthetics, opening a restaurant was never part of Baraghani’s long-term master plan. In fact, when Michael Silber, a prominent restaurant investor known for backing successful New York culinary hotspots like Borgo, Penny, and Bistrot Ha, first approached him with the proposition of launching a laid-back, all-day dining venue open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Baraghani’s initial reaction was blunt: "I have no interest."
The hesitation certainly did not stem from a lack of industry experience. Baraghani’s formidable culinary career began in professional kitchens during his youth, including a formative stint as a teenager at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, followed by work at Estela in New York City. He later transitioned into food media, serving as a food editor at Bon Appétit and ultimately earning widespread acclaim, including a prestigious James Beard Award, for his hit cookbook, The Cook You Want to Be.
However, his perspective shifted as he bonded with Silber over their mutual appreciation for greenmarket-driven cooking and deep-dive discussions into interior decoration. When the prospect of Ditto crystallized, Baraghani realized he wanted the physical space to be a true reflection of his personal style. It was a massive bonus that he and Silber found themselves completely aligned on the aesthetic direction from the very beginning.
"Andy and I talked about styles ranging from Bauhaus, de Stijl, and classic modernism to 1970s and ’80s aesthetics from places like Italy and France," Silber recalls.
To bring this multifaceted vision to life, the team brought in a roster of like-minded collaborators, including interior designer Eric Wink and architect Alta Indelman. Wink, a close friend of Baraghani who previously assisted with the design of Baraghani and Pollock’s home, notes that the founding partners frequently referenced New York’s beloved and much-missed City Bakery—which historically operated just two blocks uptown from Ditto’s new location on 16th Street—as a key source of inspiration. "They wanted it to feel casual and approachable, with a bit of a New York diner quality," Wink explains.
Housed inside a historic 1905 former industrial factory building that most recently served as an agnès b. retail store, the restaurant space is thoughtfully divided into three distinct operational and atmospheric zones. In the front section, visitors are greeted by a market area offering a curated selection of hand-picked specialty groceries. Moving further inward, the middle section is anchored by a glossy white counter featuring distinct Bauhaus curves. This is where customers line up, receive a number, and choose whether to take their food to go or settle in at laminate-topped tables positioned directly underneath a trio of oversized custom fabric pendant lamps.
The menu at Ditto, written entirely by hand on a utilitarian roll of butcher’s paper and updated on a daily basis, highlights fresh, inventive dishes. Offerings include a vibrant pomegranate spoon salad and what Baraghani proudly describes as "the Platonic ideal of granola," prepared with tahini, maple syrup, and yogurt gently drizzled with aromatic fig-leaf oil. Alongside these items, flaky biscuits stand out as a signature culinary offering.
The third and final zone of the restaurant shifts the mood entirely. Painted in the striking Benjamin Moore Buckland Blue Venetian plaster, this rear dining room houses an open kitchen and café tables pulled up against a long banquette that stretches the length of the entire room. "There’s that good chaos in the middle and the back is a calmer moment," Baraghani observes, describing the dynamic flow of the venue.
Architect Alta Indelman, a veteran
collaborator who has previously partnered with celebrated New York restaurateurs such as Andrew Tarlow and Gabe Stulman, was tasked with instilling the space with a utilitarian yet high-tech ambience. To achieve this, she clad both the walls and the open kitchen in weathered, patinated stainless steel while meticulously preserving original industrial elements, including structural masonry arches and polished concrete floors.
When it came to refining the finer visual details of the interior, Baraghani and Silber took a hands-on, meticulous approach. "We went through 50 possibilities to find the right chair," Silber notes. The seating they ultimately selected—a classic 1960s Dutch industrial chair known as the Model S22, manufactured by Galvanitas—was sourced directly from Amsterdam Modern in Los Angeles.
Silber also dedicated countless hours combing through online listings on eBay to successfully bid on a collection of midcentury ceramic bud vases. "They were each under $20, but put them together on a shelf and you have your own little Giorgio Morandi tableau," he says.
The no-nonsense, highly curated decor is rounded out by unique architectural and artistic touches. These include custom white wall speakers crafted specifically for the space by sound artist Tom Bloxam, which are programmed with bespoke playlists curated by Michael Scanlon of Chandelier Creative, the agency that oversaw Ditto’s comprehensive branding.
Quirkier design notes punctuate the environment as well. When selecting the upholstery fabric for the custom stools, Baraghani insisted on using Maharam’s Stripe It textile, believing it injected a playful "Baja California" visual energy into the room. "We needed that twist," he explains. Meanwhile, interior designer Eric Wink specified his favorite industrial stainless-steel toilet for the restrooms—the wall-mounted MiniLoo by Neo-Metro. "I added a custom wood top to soften it a bit," Wink notes.
Adding a final layer of personal history and warmth to the venue, a pair of massive midcentury French ceramic faces hang prominently on a wall directly opposite the daily handwritten menu. These striking art pieces are on loan straight from Baraghani’s own private residence. "They anchor the space and add a touch of craft," he says. "I just knew they needed to be here."
