XL cover story

The Mozersky treatment

The designer behind Uchi, Oslo and 'The Real World' house is redefining downtown hip

By Melanie Spencer
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Mix equal portions of eye candy and hip music with a heavy shot of ambience.

Stir briskly and pour.

Austinite Joel Mozersky spends his days and nights perfecting a similar tasty mélange by designing some of the city's hottest night spots.

With hangouts such as Oslo and the Peacock Lounge and the swanky Japanese eatery Uchi on his résumé, the soft-spoken San Antonio native has, during the past few years, helped define the look and feel of our social lives. His name is dropped like napkins at cocktail parties, and his humorous high/low-style concepts, borrowed from cult movies, board games and other cultural ephemera, make compusively social Austinites into characters in his fantasy narratives.

That said, Mozersky really doesn't see what all the fuss is about.

"I do my work and I hope people like it," he says recently between bites at a downtown eatery. "I don't have this grand plan. It's such a fun job for me."

He might not be plotting to redesign every public space in town, but in eight years, the University of Texas graduate has worked on more than 20 commercial projects — shops, restaurants, bars, salons — in Austin alone.

The most notable — Oslo, Peacock and Uchi — serve as olives in Mozersky's eyebrow-arching, hyper-cool design martini.

The Mozersky-tini

The white-black-and-white interior of Oslo, the mod Sixth Street bar, with its rubber walls and chairs hanging from chains, evokes two stylishly futuristic movies, Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" and Woody Allen's "Sleeper."

It's the ideal milieu for fashion shows, see-and-be-seen happy hours and booty shakin' weekends. In 2004, just after it opened, Condé Nast Traveler magazine described it as a "bastion of cool, sophistication and Nordic beauty."

Oslo is one of several collaborations between Mozersky and building designer Michael Hsu, owner of Michael Hsu Design Offices and formerly of the powerhouse Dick Clark Architecture. They also worked together on Uchi, "The Real World: Austin" house (now the Rio Grande restaurant, but reoutfitted by other designers), Girl Next Door (a North Lamar Boulevard clothing store) and the renovation of the shops at 3100 S. Congress Ave.

"Joel has a good eye, more than just clips out of a magazine," Hsu says during a recent phone conversation. "(We) come from slightly different directions. I'm a little more quiet and simple. He pulls me out, I pull him back and we come out with something better for both of us."

The process begins with a raw concept, then Hsu creates the architectural design and lighting specifications. Mozersky later fills in Hsu's concrete outlines with his signature decorative ingredients.

Currently Mozersky and Hsu are working on the Belmont, a new project from Oslo owners Daryl Kunik and Matt Luckie. The 10,000-square-foot bar and restaurant, bulked next door to Oslo, is set to open this summer. The decor is expected to shimmer like Hollywood circa 1961 — lush and tropical with an outdoor patio and a rooftop that Mozersky says will feel very "poolside."

"It's based on a place in L.A., the Dresden," Mozersky says. "It's the (spot) the Rat Pack would have gone after the show. Not with their wives, but with their girlfriends." He says he wants his spaces to feel of a time, but interpreted for today.

Luckie, who also owns, or is part-owner of, downtown bars the Red Fez, the Lavaca Street Bar and the Lucky Lounge, and Mozersky have known one another for more than nine years.

Recently, Mozersky ran into him while passing Taverna after lunch at Cantina Laredo. They joked and chatted briefly like old friends about everything except work.

In jest, Luckie promised scandalous details about Mozersky. On the phone a few days later, however, he keeps Mozersky's dark secrets and talks only about their work together.

"I met Joel through mutual friends," Luckie says. "Our hopes were to really do something different in Austin. Oslo is a very out there kind of place. It's for a certain crowd and not everybody loves it."

The same might be said about the Peacock, owned by Michael Capochiano and Jason Schell. Situated in East Austin at 515 Pedernales St., the Peacock became an instant hipster haven when it opened last year. Mozersky said his concept for the watering hole was an English drawing room owned by Mrs. Peacock from the board game Clue.

Even the most observant bargoer might not deduce that inspiration. Striking peacock blue walls are accented with white molding to create a paneled look. White chairs line up in rows. The chair backs are emblazoned with a crestlike embroidered peacock emblem. The bar is designed for cocktails and conversation, not just with your own posse, but perhaps also with members of neighboring cliques, since chairs and tables cling closely to one another. Outside a quiet, walled patio makes the perfect retreat away from the din of talk and tunes revving up inside.

"I'm really proud of the Peacock," Mozersky says. "It's glamorous in a cheeky way."

Schell says he, Capochiano and Mozersky talked about the concept briefly before racing into the design process. "We wanted elegance on a tight budget and Joel found ways to make it work," Schell explains via e-mail. "Joel is uniquely skilled at making strong visual statements that nonetheless retain playfulness and a sense of humor. That is what sets his work apart."

If Oslo is a futuristic statement and the Peacock spells fun with high style, Uchi (which translates from Japanse to house) is all casual sophistication à la Mozersky and Hsu. The South Lamar Boulevard bungalow turned foodie showroom for award-winning chef and sushi master Tyson Cole is minimalist and cool.

Inside, rich, dark wood is combined with vibrant blue, red and green. Chocolate leather stools and benches compliment the stone fireplace in the bar area, but the sushi bar dominates the interior with placement in the center of the space. Clean lines and neutral upholstery make up the dining room which is accented with floral wallpaper. Outside, a tranquil and bamboo-laden waiting area invites patrons to sip patiently and await the culinary delights beyond the front doors. The concept on this project was that Mozersky's fictional eccentric aunt, who traveled to the Orient, used to live there.

"I love the wallpaper I helped design," Joel says while waiting for a mirror installer to arrive. Measurements need to be taken for one of two projects south of Uchi on South Lamar Boulevard. The mirrors are for a "rock 'n' roll barbershop" dubbed Bird's Barbershop. The shop will have black walls with a colorful 40-foot silk-screened mural created by Bryan Kepelsky. Stylists will store equipment in large Craftsman toolboxes and patrons will have access to a foosball table. Getting back to Uchi's wallpaper Mozersky says, "(Uchi) is very sophisticated. The wallpaper is a wink so the design isn't too serious."

Hsu says he's glad to see designs like those of Oslo and Uchi so well-received by Austinites. "Austin's finally starting to get a real design sensibility," Hsu says. "It used to be tough to do anything interesting. We are trying to find another voice for the place. We try to create designs that are modern, but not alienating."

Bellying up to the bar

For years, the undisputed king of Austin restaurant design has been Dick Clark Architecture. The jovial, worldly and straight-shooting Clark launched his firm in Austin in 1979. Former Warehouse district spots, such as Mezzaluna and the Bitter End, along with current favorites Kenichi, Saba Blue Water Cafe and the new Capitol Brasserie, bear Clark's contemporary, earthy yet sophisticated signature.

"I want a lot of good stuff in Austin, not just what we can do," Clark says over coffee in his West Fourth Street office. "(Joel) is making a name for himself. I'm glad there are more and more good designers in Austin. That's exciting."

Clark says he frequents many of Austin's popular restaurants and bars, as well as out-of-town spaces, designed by others. "I'm inspired anyplace I go. I'm always looking around," he says. "Good architects absorb everything. You don't design in a bubble."

Of the Mozersky spaces he's seen, Clark says he appreciates Uchi the most and gives a nod to former staff designer Hsu. "My favorite part of Uchi is the sushi bar. I think it's a really successful layout. Michael is talented," Clark says.

Mozersky is reluctant to put himself in a category with Clark, whose stripped-down urban regional look launched the social-eating-out revolution in Austin, and admonishes any comparison.

"I have respect for him and I think he continues to contribute to the way Austin looks," Mozersky says. "Dick Clark is a local legend. He's been around a long time and forged things. I have a long time before I reach that level."

Although Mozersky already had been on the Austin design scene for years, he catapulted into the nation's consciousness through MTV's "Real World: Austin" during the 2005 season. In six weeks, Mozersky and Hsu tricked out an abandoned warehouse on San Jacinto Boulevard downtown. Home-sweet-home to seven young strangers, yes, but this space, much like a bar, was designed for socializing, partying and hooking up.

The completed house included an almost Technicolor palette with an indoor swimming pool, poker table, bar, patio hot tub and a billiards room. "I love to see people interact in my spaces," Mozersky says. With this project he was able to watch it around the clock. "There was a space with a big, round ottoman between the bedrooms. If there were hook-ups, they had to suffer the humiliation of being in the middle of everyone," he says. Although the "Real World: Austin" house married Mozersky's talents with private and public spaces, it showcased only part of the varied aesthetic exhibited in his full range of projects.

Mozersky says he came to design organically. He moved to Austin in 1986 to attend UT where he got a bachelor's degree in art history. After graduation, he was off to San Francisco for two years. He earned a masters of business administration in nonprofit arts management and then rambled right back to Austin. "I've always felt like this was my home," Mozersky says.

The next few years were spent working with friend Robert Leeper, who was running a busy concrete floor finishing business. The two eventually started a studio with several local craftspeople and artists. Buzz Design Studio occupied the space now occupied by the Austin Children's Museum. Mozersky also began working at Uncommon Objects, the South Congress Avenue antiques, junk and thrift store. It was then that he was hired for his first design jobs at Jackson Ruiz Salon Spa on North Lamar Boulevard and Twist, a downtown nightclub that's no longer in business. He stayed at Uncommon Objects for another two years before entering design full time.

More work filtered in and, in 2000, Mozersky worked as part of a design team on the retail space for the clothing store By George at 524 N. Lamar Blvd. He also finished out the interior of Mint Salon at 4023 Guadalupe St. "After Sept. 11, things slowed down," he says.

At that point, Mozersky wondered if he should leave the business, but he kept working and living project-to-project. That persistence paid off, and Mozersky continued to build his client list, his signature retro-modern style and his name, which he now fears is becoming overexposed.

That's the spirit

Mozersky's tenacity doesn't seem surprising when you learn more about his family. His father, David Mozersky, is a vascular surgeon in San Antonio. He has commissioned his son to design three of his medical offices to date. Pat Mozersky, the designer's mother, is also in a creative line of work. She writes about food for the San Antonio Express-News.

Music lovers might be familiar with Mozersky's younger brother Jason, whose guitar stylings grace the new Ben Harper CD, "Both Sides Of The Gun." Jason also plays in the Austin-based bands Operation: Awesome and Pudge Zeppelin, a Led Zeppelin cover band with "more jiggles."

"They are very supportive of me and my brother. I have amazing parents." Mozersky says over the phone. Simultaneously, he's trying unsuccessfully to pacify one of his three dogs. Spotty is a whippet, Alfie is a whippet and beagle mix and Cha-Cha is a chihuahua and Jack Russell terrier mix. Mozersky jokingly calls Cha-Cha a jack-hua-hua.

Mozersky lives with Ted Allen, his partner of 4 1/2 years. Allen works at Mercury Design in the Second Street District, one of Mozersky's favorite shopping spots. They share a house in Northeast Austin filled with ornaments from his time at Uncommon Objects.

"I have funky old things; Asian, mid-century modern and my collections of curiosities." Mozersky says.

Echoing other designers and architects, Mozersky says he loves playing with environments he wouldn't choose for his home. "Jobs like the Peacock allow you to act out a design fantasy," he says. "And all of my jobs allow me to work in various design styles."

The Rattle Inn, for instance, is a project from the owners of the restaurant Ranch 616 at 616 Nueces St., itself a tightly designed space. The new bar will be next door and Mozersky says it will include taxidermy, rattlesnake booths and other kitschy Western decor. He's also redesigning three tour buses in Nashville for the Dixie Chicks, but he's not too forthcoming with the details.

While shopping for yet another ongoing project, Mozersky talks about some of his favorite spaces in Austin. That is, of those he didn't design. "The new Jo's downtown and the Hotel San José," he says. "Everyone loves the San José, don't they?" He says the simplicity and the clean aesthetic feel good. "When it opened, it defined Austin-style without a predecessor."

This particular day consisted of shopping for tile, dropping off and picking up carpet samples and meeting with various workers at the Bird's location. Mozersky says this isn't typical. Usually, there's more running around.

For now, he couldn't be busier designing chic watering holes, restaurants and condos. More than once he mentions how grateful he is for his success thus far and is glad he doesn't have to worry as much about money. "In 2002 I could barely get arrested," he jokes.

When asked what he dreams about designing in the future, he pauses to consider. "I would love to do something very Austin that will be there for a long time. I'd like to do a school or the new Austin Children's Museum. A hotel would be nice."

Until then, Mozersky seems content: "I like the challenges I've been given so far and would like to keep on being challenged."

mspencer@statesman.com; 912-2519