Toby's State LIC - an espresso bar in an empty brick shell

Toby's Estate LIC is a bespoke espresso bar with hand-selected marble slabs, walnut planks and cement tiles that come together with custom millwork detailed to the seam. It is a neighborhood gem with regulars lining up every morning for their coffee with extraordinary quality.

Another extraordinary feature is the story behind the venue, a 4-story brick building with floor joists floating in the air as if there is an ongoing construction with temporary scaffolding. The real story is a zoning puzzle. When LIC (long island city) was rezoned a number of years ago, the 3-4 story townhouses turned gold with their additional floor area many of which were devoured by developers. This poor building was in a rare spot that the monster development next door could not extend to, so the developer simply paid for the air rights. Yet there was another twist. The DOB (department of buildings) insisted the floor slabs to be removed in order for the air rights transfer to go through, to ensure no extra floor area was being used. There you have it; an empty brick shell with a grid of wood joists floating in a 50-feet-high space with an amazing espresso bar designed by Studio Vural.

Our design objective was to cherish and highlight the exposed ceilings and the raw spirit of the space and create an artisan interior crowned by a 4" thick curvilinear espresso counter with a bullnose edge detail (this means the front edge of the counter profile is a semi-circle, aka bullnose). ​ We hand selected the calacatta marble slabs from a NJ stone yard, clad the counter walls with layered walnut strips curving at the corner with flexible plywood veneer, another tricky detail, and tied it all together with a patterned cement tile on the floor. In short, not because we designed it, Toby's Estate LIC is a extraordinary experience to visit if you are into good coffee and architecture.