If you’ve ever eaten in the food court at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, chances are you have seen the work of Martin Hirschberg.

Lingering Days from the Santorini series.

Through his design firm Hirschberg Design Group, Hirschberg and his team of nine interior designers redesigned the Terminal 3 food court in Pearson Airport.

They are also responsible for the interiors of Piazza Manna and Pumpernickels in downtown Toronto. The Pickle Barrel and Superior and Fran’s restaurants make up some of Hirschberg’s Toronto-based projects as well.

One of Hirschberg’s more challenging projects was to redefine what people think of off-track betting. This he accomplished with the design of downtown Toronto’s Turf Lounge, an upscale bar, restaurant and off-track betting lounge for the business crowd.

Hirschberg’s passion for design is unmistakable, from the attention to detail in each of his projects and how no two designs are the same.

“There’s an excitement every day here. If there wasn’t an excitement, I wouldn’t be here,” said Hirschberg, an interior designer for the hospitality industry for more than 35 years.

Early in his career, Hirschberg worked for a fixture company that specialized in restaurants. When he began working there, not much importance was placed on design. That changed, though, and Hirschberg was eventually made head of the company’s design department. He  founded the Hirschberg Design Group in the early 1970s.

However, Hirschberg is renowned not only for his award-winning design firm but also for his art. His work has been in  shows at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Stratford Art Gallery and the Blue Dot Gallery in the Distillery District in Toronto. Hirschberg also designed the Illuminated Glass Ark Doors at the Temple Sinai in Toronto.

Hirschberg’s interior design career grew out of his first love, art. When he was a teenager, his grandfather paid for art lessons for him – something Hirschberg and his wife, Marion, now do for their grandchildren.

Hirschberg’s series of paintings include some from the Greek island of Santorini and Provence, in France.

“I saw in Santorini this brightness, this life,” he said. “None of the scenes in Santorini have people – it’s all architecture.”

Another series of his paintings is titled The Family – a departure from his usual painting of landscapes – in which he reflects on the dysfunctional nature of families.

Family comes first, before work, for the Hirschbergs.

“The most important thing in our lives, truthfully, is family,” Marion Hirschberg, an actress,  said. “The greatest pleasure is Friday night sitting around [the] table.”

Another important part of their lives is Judaism, and the honouring of tradition that comes with it.

“When I light the Shabbat candles with my children and grandchildren on Friday night, that’s probably one of the most important things in my life, because I am instilling in them a tradition. No matter where they go they’ll remember those Fridays and they’ll remember how we did it together,” she said.

“We’re extremely proud to be Jewish, and that’s what we instil in our children – how lucky they are that they are living in a country where they can say that,” she added.

Hirschberg is exhibiting his Santorini series of paintings at the Toronto Art Expo at the Metro Convention Centre March 19 – 22

Martin Hirschberg’s website addresses are www.martinhirschbergartist.com and www.hirschbergdesign.com.