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Arts & Entertainment

Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, Roman and Williams


By

John Del Signore

Published Mar 11, 2010

Modified Mar 11, 2010


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The Boom Boom Room is no longer called The Boom Boom Room. What’s the name now? 18th at the Standard. Seen from the street, the Boom Boom Room is incredibly intriguing, but the door is notoriously exclusive. Have you tried to go there as a guest? Any advice for curious nobodies like us? Big smile. Does it bother you at all that a place you designed is essentially off limits to the general public?   It’s always just a matter of time before these places become more accessible.

 

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By

John Del Signore

Published Mar 11, 2010

Modified Mar 11, 2010


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Sorry to start the day on a note of bitter envy, but check out all these really, really, ridiculously good looking places we can't get into nor afford! While their styles are somewhat disparate, they do share one thing in common: they all sprang from the minds of Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, the hip couple behind design firm Roman and Williams. SO hot right now—but you might not know it if you can't afford a room at The Standard, or can't wait hours for a table at The Breslin or The Standard Grill, or have naively tried to visit that insane Mordor-esque red-glowing bar, formerly known as The Boom Boom Room, atop the 18th floor of The Standard. (To be fair, impecunious nobodies are perfectly welcome to buy a coffee from Stumptown and drink it in the lobby of The Ace Hotel.)

And if you really want to make your blood boil, be sure to inspect these photos (below) of the couple's loft on East Fourth Street. Standefer and Alesch (not to be confused with the jeering old men in The Muppet Show balcony) got their start designing film sets, but changed course after Ben Stiller, on the set of Duplex, wondered aloud why his home couldn't look as cool as the movie. Their first gig was overhauling Stiller's residence, and they haven't looked back since. Via e-mail, the busy couple responded to our questions about their numerous hot projects.

Tagged

ace hotel

breslin

design

grill

interview

roman and williams

the standard


John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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