When Kyle Hotchkiss Carone conceived Clover Grocery, the neighboring take-out offshoot of Café Clover, his health-and-style-conscious West Village restaurant, he envisioned "the world’s chicest bodega.” In a city of small apartments and smaller kitchens, Clover Grocery was to be the ultimate grab-and-go, replete with wholesome roasted veggies, fresh coffee, a juice bar, and other essentials like Bamford beauty products and fresh-cut flowers.

“Since I was a kid going to the market with my mom, I loved the experience of shopping for food and other beautiful things,” says Carone. “Coming to Clover Grocery should be a highlight of your day—for breakfast or matcha, for a brief escape from the office for lunch, to pick up a gift, to shop for a dinner party on the way home from work—it should be the opposite of stressful to come by our little shop.”

For the epicerié ’s interiors, Carone tapped Studio Mellone , known for creating rigorously glamorous spaces for clients including Thom Brown and Jason Wu. “I came to Andre [Mellone] with a million references—everything from Perriand stools to bronze Pompeii deer,” notes Carone. Together, he and Mellone conjured an ultraglamorous scheme that draws on the chic epicurean arcades of Europe as well as iconic residential architecture. “Ultimately we arrived at [Milan’s] Villa Necchi Campiglio and its incredible kitchen as the jumping-off point,” Carone adds, pointing out the blue ceramic tiles, blond wood shelves, and curvilinear marble details. And, setting the space apart from the quotidian bodega, much attention has been lavished on a sumptuous lighting design that’s ultraflattering to both the patrons and the fresh goods. When evening falls, the lights go dim and the large custom-made trestle table is reset for intimate dinners and private events.