A restaurant trend is taking shape in New York City, and it starts with an observation: why is there a rock in the sink?
Last winter, a group of writers visited Gem Home, a Scandi-inspired brunch spot in lower Manhattan. Francky Knapp, part of the group, noticed something unusual upon returning from the bathroom—a slab of stone embedded in the industrial sink. Rust-colored mineral deposits marked where water had collected over time. The team glanced at it briefly before continuing. No one questioned its presence.
Months later, the same writer met a friend at Rhythm Zero, a Greenpoint coffee shop styled like an art gallery. There, a large boulder sat beside the counter, while another rested in the bathroom between the sink and toilet. The placement seemed intentional, though not overtly so. Weeks after that visit, the writer entered Pizza 4P, a Vietnamese pizza chain in Brooklyn, where six boulders had been installed from a New Jersey wholesaler. These rocks were not merely decoration; they shaped the entire dining experience.
Rocks in Other Locations and Their Design Influence
Similar stone installations have appeared in other establishments tied to the same ownership group. A now-closed wine bar, Gem Wine, included rocks in its bathroom sinks, matching the approach seen at Gem Home. Another venue, Cove, also featured stones in restrooms, though details about their placement or purpose remain unclear.
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The presence of rocks in these spaces suggests a deliberate choice to incorporate natural elements into interior design. Unlike Pizza 4P’s structural use of boulders, these installations appear more subtle, focusing on unexpected placement rather than functional integration.
The Rocks That Reshaped a Restaurant
At Pizza 4P’s Brooklyn location, the stones are more than decorative elements—they are structural components. The host stand is built around a waist-high boulder, its natural notch holding menus. A smaller stone serves as seating. Four additional boulders weave through the dining room, guiding guests along a winding path. None were altered to fit; instead, the restaurant’s design adapted to their presence.
Kazuya Kubota, the chain’s global branding director, explained that the largest stone weighed nearly two tons, equivalent to the pizza oven. Combined with hanging plants, the rocks soften the industrial space, blending urban Brooklyn with the pastoral imagery on the menu. “After we found the stones, we changed the position,” Kubota explained during a tour. The stones also serve practical purposes: some are wired to hold wooden frames for plants, anchoring them to walls.
The result is a space that feels both raw and deliberate, as though the earth itself guided the design. This approach is not unique to Pizza 4P. Ivana Somorai, owner of Rhythm Zero, drew inspiration from Japanese design principles, which emphasize natural materials. She placed rocks in the Greenpoint location, one by the mirror, another in the bathroom, after realizing they added an unexpected element. Initially part of a minimalist design, they became permanent fixtures. “The rocks began as part of a specific design moment, but they ended up becoming part of the life of the cafe and the way people use the space,” Somorai wrote, noting that the rock by the mirror had become a favorite spot for regulars.
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Somorai’s reasoning for the bathroom rock was simple: to provoke curiosity. “I wanted them to be like, ‘Why is there a rock here?’” Somorai wrote. The effect was immediate. The writer, returning recently, found the bathroom rock had been relocated to Transmitter Park, where Somorai described it as “where they belong.”
Pizza 4P’s use of stones reflects a deeper design philosophy. The chain operates dozens of locations worldwide, each custom-designed with distinct themes. In Indonesia, the focus is on biodiversity; in the U.S., it revolves around the idea of “what the earth told me.” Kubota compared the stones to ingredients, natural elements integrated into the design. The outcome is a space that feels less like a restaurant and more like an extension of the outdoors.
The trend extends beyond aesthetics into the supply chain. At Pizza 4P, the decision to use natural stones involved practical considerations. The six boulders in the Brooklyn location were sourced from a New Jersey wholesaler, selected for their size, weight, and irregular shapes. Kubota noted that the stones were chosen before the restaurant’s layout was finalized, forcing the design team to adapt the space around them.
