New York Times, Sunday, January 3rd, 2009 – Metropolitan CT 9

CONNECTICUT DINING – NEW HAVEN

In a Pizza Mecca, A Nontraditional Take

New Haven has a reputation as a Mecca for pizza lovers, with Wooster Street eateries like Sally’s and Frank Pepe serving pies with cracker-thin crusts since the early 1900s. But the abundance and pedigree of pie-serving places didn’t stop Donna Curran and the chef Denise Appel, owners of Zin Restaurant on Chapel Street, from opening their own in June.

Kitchen Zinc, on the sight of their erstwhile Asian outpost, Chow, serves what is billed as artisanal pizza: thin-crust pies topped with local ingredients. They cost somehwat more than the typical New Haven pizza – and are often worth it – but don’t go looking for the usual red sauce and mozzarella.

At Kitchen Zinc, the owners have managed to create an attractive farmhouse-kitchen-meets-urban-chic aesthetic. The wooden tables are unclothed; brick walls are decorated with a few oversize black and white photographs of market produce, and one of a large, sweet-looking goat, the restaurant’s unofficial mascot.
The one-page menu features a few appetizers and a small selection of non-traditional pizzas, both red and white, followed by a listing of meats, seafood, vegetables and cheese from which you can concoct your own…

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THE SPACE   A single, brick-walled room with a bar on one wall, a few booths along the opposite wall, and several small tables in between. The music can be loud, but the staff is obliging about turning it down if you ask. Wheelchair access. Metered parking on the street.

THE CROWD   Urbanites, including lots of students, everyone casually dress. Staff is engaging and helpful.

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New Haven Register, Saturday, August 29, 2009 - Business E1

COURTSIDE COMFORT

New Haven architect redesigns 4 Pilot Pen hospitality suites

The Championship Suite overlooking Stadium Court in one of four hospitality suites at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale in New Haven got architect Karin Patriquin, who lives in Guilford. The suites, which are rented by organizations and businesses for each session of the tournament, were redesigned in a ’simple’ motif, Patriquin says, to incorporate neutral colors, new furniture, locally grown flowers and photographs taken from throughout the tennis center.

Patriquin, right, talks with architects Randall Hoder, left, and Heather Bensko at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament this week. The three share space on Crown Street in New Haven.

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Guilford Courier, Thursday, June 2nd, 2005 - Living C1

COOKING UP A KITCHEN TOUR TO BENEFIT THE SHORELINE FOUNDATION

Clean Kitchen
The clean, contemporary elegant lines in Karin Patriquin and Angelo Accomando’s Guilford kitchen with its dramatic 16-foot ceiling exude a sense of calm and peace, reflected in the lush woods behind the house seen through the room’s long vertical windows.

Patriquin, an architect who recently struck out on her own after working in the prestigious Cesar Pelli Associates New Haven architectural firm, designed the couple’s new house, where they live with their baby daughter. As they both enjoy cooking, the kitchen was a high priority.

In designing the kitchen, Patriquin says she started from the essence of the house, repeating the European theme of mahogany windows, beams, and trim, with contrasting light wood and stainless steel accents. Working with Gedney, she selected curly maple cabinets, stainless steel cabinet pulls and appliances, and Blue Pearl granite countertops. Lovely, subtle details include a backsplash of tiny iridescent, opaque and translucent glass tiles in shades of blue and gray to add color and warmth, and a graceful Italian blown glass lighting fixture hanging over the center island.

‘My husband likes things that are very warm and traditional and I love clean lines, so we went with warmer woods, textures – and clean lines’ Patriquin says. Accomando is very pleased with how it turned out. ‘I wanted a nice, modern flavor without it being in-your-face contemporary’, he says. ‘It has a very homey look to it.’

This classic contemporary kitchen was designed by its owner, architect Karin Patriquin.