After years of running a beloved Vietnamese pop-up around the country, Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns finally debuted a brick-and-mortar Manhattan restaurant in December. Ha’s Snack Bar offers the husband/wife team’s French-tinged bites and natural wine in a compact space filled with DIY finishes and repurposed furniture. “People keep telling us how cozy and homey it feels in here,” says Sadie. “That why we’re so glad that we took on the design element ourselves. It really does feel like our two hands built it.”
The one feature the couple didn’t select themselves was the existing hexagonal terracotta tile floors, which provided a warm base for them to layer with family heirlooms, artwork by friends, and objects they’d amassed over time. “We were just collecting pieces and items and things that we fell in love with and then figuring out how to use them, essentially,” Sadie says. “It was pretty instinctual.” Join us for a look around.
Photography by Lucia Bell-Epstein.
Above: Before Anthony and Sadie even signed the lease, they ordered English schoolhouse chairs with royal blue metal frames. This cobalt hue eventually became the restaurant’s signature, appearing on the bar’s glass tile border, the kitchen’s cement tile walls, and the awning outside.
Above: The couple, pictured here, inherited the terracotta floors and lots of cherry wood furniture from the previous tenant, chef Flynn McGarry of Gem Wine, which moved to a larger location (see our tour here). They altered the timber pieces to fit their vision. “We took the tables and cut them in half and then had a woodworker in Brooklyn elevate them so now they’re at bar height,” Anthony explains. Black-and-red checkerboard paintings by Justin Chance hang above.
Above: A Parisian-style chalkboard displays the ever-changing menu, while Sadie’s grandfather’s Buddha watches over the room. Her mother, Kris Burns, is behind all the fresh and dried floral arrangements throughout.
Above: The bar is topped with durable stainless steel. Anthony and Sadie tiled the base with white ceramic squares themselves. “If you look closely, it definitely looks like a non-expert laid them down, but it’s really cute,” she says. “It’s definitely rough around the edges, but we think it’s in a really endearing, sweet way.”
Above: Wine bottles stay chilled in an ornate silver bucket with a healthy patina; fruit is stored in old Alessi bread baskets.
Above: Behind the bar, beside Sadie’s great-grandmother’s mirror, Anthony attempted to install a Vitsoe 606 Shelving System—but it was too big for the space. Since the tracks were already attached to the wall, he found aluminum brackets on eBay and recycled leftover cherry planks to create a one-of-a-kind solution. “We reworked it and turned it into this thing that we’re proud of,” he says.
Above: Office supplies are hidden away by curtains on a copper mount that Anthony built with plumbing materials. “The tailor who’s around the corner from us sewed the curtains,” says Sadie. “We actually used this gorgeous muslin fabric that we had gotten for the tablecloths for our wedding.”
Above: James Cherry designed the light fixtures. “We were able to work really intimately with him throughout the process, and he was just brimming with ideas,” says Sadie. “He had sourced this gorgeous paper that uses dried fruit and vegetables.” The pendants feature black radishes and the sconces, persimmons.
Above: Food is served on the couple’s collection of mismatched porcelain plates. “All the plateware is thrifted, but we’re very picky,” admits Anthony. “No designer, but some of them are from big German houses like Rosenthal. We’re particular on the feel. There’s a balance when we’re hunting for stuff.”
Above: The silverware was gathered gradually, too.
Above: “It narrates us, but I hope not in an overt, obvious way,” Sadie says of the design. “If you look at the details, it all ties into itself, but we tried to do it in a way that also had timelessness. We love the feel of a restaurant, so we’ve been so happy to be able to curate our version of that.”
Above: Ha’s is bustling in the evening.
