(Photo: Hannah Whitaker/New York Magazine)

As Tom Colicchio demonstrated two weeks ago, when he performed the Heimlich maneuver on cookbook author Joan Nathan at a D.C. soirée, you never know when you’ll be called upon to expel an errant chunk of food from a dining companion’s windpipe. To make sure you’re prepared when the moment arrives, the health department requires every food-service establishment to prominently display the familiar poster, a rudimentary government-issue model dispensed in whichever language happens to be in stock (often Chinese or Spanish). Lifesaving though it might be, the thing is a bit of an eyesore, leading canny restaurateurs like Keith McNally to search for creative solutions (like turning the poster into a staff uniform at Schiller’s Liquor Bar). More recently, a handful of style-conscious operators have transformed their civic duty into an aesthetic statement by displaying Brooklyn artist Alex Holden’s whimsical version of the poster, a comic strip of sorts that’s populated with palm trees and well-dressed folks living it up (almost fatally) on a tropical vacation somewhere. Holden bartends at Williamsburg’s Union Pool and created the aptly retro poster for his bosses when they opened Hotel Delmano nearby. Since then, it’s popped up at Porchetta, Txikito, Vinegar Hill House, Five Leaves, and the Green Table at Chelsea Market. You can purchase one for $40—whether you own a restaurant or not—by contacting the artist at alexholden.com.

Related:

• Archive: “Food Features”
• Articles by Robin Raisfeld | Rob Patronite
• Table of Contents: Feb 9, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!