Jamie McGlinchey is a New York-based interior designer and founder of Now Or Never Studio (NoN Studio), a multidisciplinary design practice with a focus in hospitality. With a background in concept development, custom fabrication and brand experience, Jamie brings a sharp creative vision to each project, balancing expressive materiality with grounded spatial storytelling. Before launching NoN Studio, Jamie led design at Sweetgreen during a period of rapid growth, overseeing 150 restaurant openings and shaping the brand’s built environment from coast to coast. Jamie holds an MFA in interior design from Parsons and is currently based in Brooklyn. Learn more about Jamie’s feel for hospitality design in today’s Designer Friday.
Dave The Butcher balances Basque-inspired butcher shop tradition with a modern market layout, where open sightlines make craft and conversation equally visible.
Andrew Joseph: What inspired you to become a designer?
Jamie McGlinchey: I’ve always been fascinated by the relationship between people and place — how light, material and proportion can shape the way we feel. Design became a way to translate that awareness into form. It’s less about aesthetics and more about creating moments that linger in memory.
AJ: Can you describe your design philosophy in three words?
JM: Time, place, memory. Every project is an intersection of where we are, when we are, and what stays with us after the moment passes. My years leading design at Sweetgreen deeply influenced this perspective. Designing spaces that are both efficient and experiential taught me how to design for rhythm, ritual and human connection. That foundation continues to inform NoN Studio’s work today: designing environments that are not only beautiful, but intuitive, grounded, and lasting.
Rooted in classic European bistro style, this marble-topped bar and forest green beadboard create an intimate perch that feels both nostalgic and refined.
AJ: Can you tell us about a design trend you are excited about?
JM: I’m drawn to the return of imperfection — a move away from glossy minimalism toward something more textured, soulful, and human. You can feel it in prevalent material choices: limewash, raw wood, hand-formed metal. Design that remembers the hand that made it.
AJ: How do you keep up with the latest design trends?
JM: Living in New York makes it impossible not to. The city is a constant pulse of ideas — from gallery openings and design fairs to quiet material discoveries in unexpected places. But rather than chasing trends, I pay attention to undercurrents: shifts in how people live, what they value and how spaces make them feel. That’s where the next direction in design usually begins.
AJ: What’s your favorite cocktail?
JM: I love a well-crafted cocktail and usually defer to a bar’s signature creation. It’s a chance to experience the head bartender’s point of view, much like visiting a restaurant. But if I’m ordering a classic, I’ll always come back to a Boulevardier or a New York Sour; both are timeless, balanced, and just a little bit unexpected.
The intimate two-top tables feel quietly nostalgic, pairing Parisian café references with a distinctly Hudson Valley sensibility.
AJ: What would your dream project or dream client be right now?
JM: I’m most inspired by projects that invite a holistic approach — where design becomes a throughline between story, brand and experience. Whether it’s a hospitality concept, retail environment or residence with a strong point of view, I’m drawn to projects that allow me to explore the profound ways interiors can shape behavior, identity and connection.
The opportunity to craft not just the physical space but to work closely with our clients on the atmosphere, flow and sensory identity that surrounds it.
AJ: What’s a new hobby/skill that you have learned recently?
JM: I recently learned how to drive a manual transmission. My dream car is a vintage Mercedes SL — so first things first, I had to learn how to drive it. Next step: finding one. In silver, of course.
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