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It’s in the bathroom at Smithereens and sold on rotation at Cervo’s, Eel Bar, Hart’s and the Fly. Located at June Wine Bar and Rhodora. I found the smell of Schmuck familiar. And yes, it was there. I swear I smelled it on Tatiana, but my email asking for confirmation went unanswered. A fellow Eater timed it on Elsa and immediately bought one of her own (and received another for Christmas).
Keap’s Wood Cabin candle is sophisticated but not overwhelming, a striking brand but not flashy. In New York City restaurants, they’ve become a modern classic when it comes to bathroom candles.
Nick Tamburo of Smithereens and Moe Aljaff of Schmuck wanted to give other restaurants a whiff of Wood Cabin. As for Aljaff, and especially Cervo, he said in an email: “I remember walking into their bathroom and thinking it smelled particularly nice, which is not something you normally think of in a restaurant bathroom.” According to Tamburo, it has a “romantic and touching quality” that fits well with the “small, cloistered, intimate rooms” of the underground restaurant, which smells of cedar, palo santo and fireside embers.
Wood Cabin, launched in 2015, is Keep’s most popular scent. The owners of June Wine Bar have been fans of the company since its days as a small brand founded in Brooklyn (now headquartered in the Hudson Valley town of Kingston) and have been using candles since June opened. Keap’s owner Harry Doull is the first restaurant to smell candles in the wild.
“Our collaboration with restaurants started organically, and in most cases still does,” Doull wrote in an email. Hospitality customers, including restaurants, account for only 10% of the company’s revenue, but for some businesses, “we’ve developed ways to offer volume pricing and be a better partner over time,” he explained. Doull, who grew up in a family of restaurants, believes places that use Keap tend to share similar values around hospitality, artisanal production and sustainability. Restaurants can return empty glass containers for Keap to reuse.
There’s a referential quality to stocking a bathroom with candles, which in NYC is as common as Wood Cabin. For some people, that’s actually part of the draw. “I am skeptical of originality,” Aljaff wrote. “Most places that claim to be original usually have a louder sound. What we do is create rooms with what we’re inspired by and the different details we like – restaurants, bars, movies, music, art, conversation, bathrooms – and combine them in a way that feels consistent.”
Keap calls its candles “natural luxury.” At $54.50 per candle, this luxury is a bit more affordable than boozy options like Le Labo or Diptyque. Especially when diners still occasionally steal candles, as June continues to experience.
If Woody isn’t your thing, check out these candles inspired by other NYC restaurants.
