The Solution

To rectify the problem, John Quinn and Mark Speight, co-owners, sought out the expertise of Mike Lenyk and his company, Signature Lighting. Mike built his reputation as much on his artistic lighting design sense as on his technical skills. He addressed the challenge by using 65 landscape lighting fixtures strategically placed among the flowerbeds and surrounding bushes. Mike also lit the Ruga sign and the building itself.

Lest the reader imagine such a large number of lights as Disney-esque; on the contrary, Mike’s lights are small in size and carefully hidden.

Each one is designed to project the ideal level of carefully controlled light. The overall effect is not garish; it is simply striking, bringing out the natural beauty of the plant material and highlighting the architectural features of the building, thus creating one cohesive three-dimensional lighting scene.

Mike takes pride not only in the final effect, but also in the quality and durability of the fixtures themselves. . “There’s a lot of effort and art that goes into a lighting project like the one at Ruga. I need to work with products that can handle the task, and to know that my efforts here are going to last for years to come – for this project and others of this scope I rely on the quality and durability of CAST Lighting’s line of fixtures and system components.” Mike Lenyk is one of a growing number of leading lighting designers that exclusively use the New Jersey-based CAST brand of Landscape Lighting. An inspection of the fixtures used at Ruga show them to be constructed of solid bronze. Mike explains that using these hand-made fixtures in combination with CAST tin-coated wire and advanced power supplies ensures that the lighting system will survive the elements into the next century.

The Results

The Ruga staff are delighted (pardon the pun) with the results. Since the lights have been in place, business has been booming. Every day new patrons arrive with the same comment, “I drive by every day, but I never knew you were here.” The owners are also pleased with savings in the electric bill. Despite the fact that the number of lights has increased, they are all low voltage and consume 1/3 the electricity of high voltage security lighting.

David Beausoleil, founder and president of CAST Lighting is pleased with Mike Lenyk’s design at Ruga. “Mike used lighting techniques that not only draw attention to the restaurant, but infuse an almost magical feel to the property. His design succeeds in directing the viewers experience from the initial stage of ‘recognition’, to ‘invitation’ then to ‘welcoming’ as the motorist enters the property. The overall look and feel is dramatic, yet sophisticated and subtle – enhancing the beauty of the landscape rather than detracting from it. This is a vast improvement over the high voltage flood lights that previously washed out the entire property.”

Ruga is one of a growing number of businesses beginning to realize the rewards of a professionally designed low voltage landscape lighting system. CAST Lighting, working closely with lighting designers such as Mike Lenyk, is poised to deliver these systems while the viewing public reaps the visual rewards.

Ruga is located at 4 Barbara Lane in Oakland, NJ. For reservations or in-home dining call (201) 337-0813.