When we occupied the former Il Cantuccio space on 16th Street in Mission district, the landlord had already renovated the space. I sort of felt bad when I told my landlord that we would need to change the look completely. What my landlord didn't realize was that adequate lighting is extremely important to us. At that time, the walls were painted in red and the ceiling was painted in dark chocolate. It was really dark, and we had to resort to the kitchen to communicate because of better lighting.

We hired Patricia (Patty) Foo Hampton to be our interior designer. Patty, who happened to be the child of Deaf parents (CODA), already understood the need for adequate lighting. I shared my vision with her for modern and vintage décor, and throwing it in the mix. I usually love going to restaurants with modern décor, as they give off a certain feel so I could really enjoy its atmosphere. As we were going to use an ancient pizza baking method at Mozzeria, I thought vintage decor would be appropriate.

During construction, Patty and I went over the design plan. She made recommendations on lighting and furniture, and we agreed on a modern look with clean lines. I love her tastes, and was very pleased to see the vision I had earlier implemented exactly as I had envisioned. She knew I wanted to hire skilled Deaf labor including a furniture maker and hardwood flooring specialist. She was a great listener, and made sure that we stayed within our remodeling budget.

When we launched Mozzeria last December, we received a lot of compliments on the Mozzeria look. Patty, you did an amazing job!

Patty and I are now moving into other projects after the launch. I recently mentioned the art project that we were working on. We have just completed two art projects, and hope to have the rest of the artworks completed during the summer. Patty has a website, http://patriciafoohampton.carbonmade.com.

Cheers