Who

Waisbrod is an interior designer known for creating hip restaurants and nightspots.

Backstory

After learning the architecture trade in Milan, Israeli-born Waisbrod moved to New York in 1990 and took a job with restaurant design god Adam Tihany. (Like Waisbrod, Tihany is Israeli-born and Milan-educated.) With Tihany, Waisbrod worked on a number of notable projects including a redesign of the Palace Hotel and Sirio Maccioni's Le Cirque. In 1996, he left Tihany's employ to start his own design practice, Gaia Studios, named after his son. He's since continued to focus his energies on hospitality design, and has a number of restaurant, nightclub, and hotel projects to his name.

Of note

Venues that Waisbrod has designed include Michael Jordan's 23 Restaurant in Chicago, the club Light at the Bellagio Hotel, and a handful of Jonathan Morr-owned restaurants, including Bond Street, Cafeteria and, most recently, the burger spot Stand. On the hospitality front, he designed iterations of the W Hotel in Seoul and Mexico City. (One somewhat ridiculous amenity he added to the W Mexico City: hammocks in the showers.) Perhaps his most high-profile project was Jay-Z's 40/40 club in Manhattan, a design which included a Lucite safe to protect the club's cognac supply.

Legal file

In August 2006, Waisbrod sued Jay-Z for using his original 40/40 club design for a new Atlantic City outpost without his permission. Prior to the suit, Jay-Z had planned to use the design at 40/40s in Las Vegas and Singapore, too.

Personal

Waisbrod lives in New Jersey with his wife Ronit and three children—Leeor, Noam, and Gaia, the firm's namesake.