Merkato 55 - 55 Gansevoort Street (Ninth Avenue), with some 150 seats on two elaborately decorated levels in the overexposed, overwrought meatpacking district. Lighting fixtures on the ground floor resemble upside-down Conga drums. The steps going upstairs wrap around a dangling contemporary chandelier and lead to circular booths, gleaming ebony tables and dazzling floral sprays. MBE designed and constructed the restaurant.