Past Press

Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers Inc. Focuses on Restaurants, Completes Projects for Bocconi, Carmine’s and T.G.I Friday’s

LIVINGSTON, N.J. (July 17, 2009) -- Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers Inc., one of the state’s oldest and largest architecture and engineering firms, has recently completed work on restaurant projects for three clients in the New York metropolitan area.

The Livingston, N.J.-based firm has completed work on a prototype for Bocconi’s Pasta Pronto & More in Hackensack, N.J.; Carmine Livingston in Livingston, N.J.; and T.G.I. Friday’s in the Bronx, N.Y. Restaurants are a specialty for Jarmel Kizel, which is known for providing one-stop shopping for architecture, engineering and interior design services.

“Our experience in the hospitality sector has allowed our firm to provide the services and designs to meet the specific needs of these restaurants,” said Matthew B. Jarmel, AIA, principal of Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers. “In particular, this work reflects our extensive expertise in restaurant prototypes and rollouts.”

Bocconi Pasta Pronto & More, which opened in June at 363 Essex St., was an immediate success with its concept of high quality, inexpensive Italian food that is delivered within 10 minutes of when an order is placed, said Justin A. Mihalik, AIA, the principal at Jarmel Kizel who headed up the project.

The Hackensack restaurant is the prototype for three or four more that are planned for New Jersey, Mihalik said.

The design developed by Jarmel Kizel featured a fresh contemporary setting with upscale materials and finishes in neutral colors accented by Bocconi’s signature colors of red and white. A blend of materials and a variation in ceiling heights created an eye-catching sense of visual interest for the 1,200-square-foot space.

At Carmine’s Livingston, located at 405 Eisenhower Parkway, Jarmel Kizel created an old New York atmosphere with dark wood paneling and mosaic tile floor coverings. The 7,300-square-foot restaurant is the third in New Jersey for Carmine’s, which offers high quality, authentic Italian food in a classic setting seating 200 diners.

A particular pleasure of the Carmine’s project was returning a venerable Livingston landmark to active use, Jarmel said, noting that the site was formerly a stagecoach stop on the line between Morristown and Paterson and that the current building had been a popular tavern, Merrigan’s, for 40 years before closing seven years ago.

Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers Inc. is also completing architecture, design and structural engineering services for a new 7,300-square-foot T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant at 1780 Gun Hill Rd. in the Bronx on behalf of the Briad Group of Livingston, N.J.

The firm also collaborated with Vornado Realty Trust, the owner of the strip center in which the restaurant pad is located.

The 330-seat restaurant, which is due to be completed this summer, is one of 860 T.G.I. Friday’s located in 47 states and 60 countries. T.G.I. Friday’s is the original casual dining chain in the United States, having opened its first restaurant in 1965 at First Avenue and 63rd Street on New York’s Upper East Side.

Jarmel Kizel, based in Livingston, N.J., has provided architecture and design services for about 20 T.G.I. Friday’s locations in the states of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, California and Arizona for Briad, one of the nation’s fastest-growing hospitality companies. Briad is the largest T.G.I. Friday’s franchise operator, with 68 locations.

As at the other locations, Jarmel Kizel adapted the franchisor’s prototype to local conditions. In addition, the firm managed the entitlement and site plan approval processes and provided structural engineering for a micro-pile foundation after assessing various approaches to soil conditions prior to finalizing the design.

Jarmel Kizel is known for its work on rollouts, which refers to the implementation of a prototype design at multiple locations. The firm has completed rollout assignments in 18 states for office and retail clients including The Learning Experience, Ellen Tracy, Villa Pizza, Casa Java, Smith Barney and Weichert Realtors.

Jarmel Kizel is a full-service architecture and engineering firm, serving as the single source for all of a company’s facility needs, including site analysis, civil engineering, base building architectural design, interior design, engineering, relocation management and product procurement management.

About Jarmel Kizel Architects & Engineers, Inc.
Headquartered in Livingston, N.J., Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers, Inc. is a full-service integrated architecture, engineering, interior design and energy consulting firm serving a distinguished client base of commercial and residential real estate companies, and a myriad of corporations throughout the Northeast.  The company employs registered architects, interior designers, professional engineers, LEED-AP professionals and technical support personnel that provide clients with a single source for all of their facility needs from architectural design, interior design, structural, MEP and civil engineering, to energy solutions and product procurement management services.  For more information, contact the company’s Livingston headquarters at 973.994.9669 or visit www.jarmelkizel.com.