Michelin stars are no longer enough. Food and beverage spaces get a new design concept thanks to a globally recognized competition selecting the world’s most stunning restaurant interiors.
THE ‘RESTAURANT & BAR DESIGN AWARDS’ CEREMONY HAS BEEN RECENTLY HELD IN LONDON, WHERE THE WORLD’S MOST BEAUTIFUL RESTAURANTS HAVE BEEN AWARDED BY VIRTUE OF THEIR PECULIAR IDENTITY AND FEATURES OR SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY REPRESENT THE TOP OF HIGH-END FOOD & DESIGN CONCEPT IN THEIR RESPECTIVE AREAS.
Did you know that the most beautiful restaurants in the world are awarded a special prize each year? For those who are not happy by simply tasting delicacies from the world’s top restaurant industry, and crave for stunning design interiors, we suggest they read the following article, reporting the opinion of experts in the field that, for the ninth time in a row, have gathered as committee of the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, an internationally recognized world prize for beverage & food interior design. From cruise to airport restaurants, from museum bistros to street food trucks, including, of course, the sacred shrines of Michelin stars holders, and the fleeting dynamism of the latest pop-up restaurants. Because of its authority and prestige, the committee has obviously attracted worldwide famous names in the design branch, Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Foster & Partners, Gordon Ramsay, and Alberto Alessi among the most recent. The award ceremony held at King’s Cross, London, selected the following 5 restaurants – all of them to try, of course.
Best restaurant in Europe|Shade Burger, Poltava, Ukraine |YOD Design Lab
Ascetic and brutal: the interiors of the Shade Burger, with their ample use of concrete, have been made to deliberately recall the unmistakable ambience of a classic open plan kitchen American burger bar. The celebrated sandwich, synonym of easy, pop food seems almost to have contaminated the restaurant’s interiors with their simple combination of materials – a multitude of ultra-thin wooden strips hanging from the ceiling symbolizing minced meat, a burger’s basic ingredient.
Best restaurant in Australia & the Pacific Area|Piccolino, Mount Waverley, Australia| Studio Hachem
When the owner of the nearby pizzeria decided to purchase this area, his idea was to make “something special” out of it: not just a contemporary 24-hour restaurant, but also a multi-functional area, a new popular hangout for the whole neighborhood. Notwithstanding the low budget and strict building restrictions, the building has hit its target through a successful combination of a few basic elements maximizing its functionality: a steel structure, a lot of glass and the warm shades of wood – architectural frame and interior décor at the same time. No overblown detail here – just light, warmth and space for free relaxation and enjoyment.
Best restaurant in the Americas| Duck Duck Goat, Chicago, USA | Studio AvroKO
Coherent with chef Stephanie Izard’s vision and her wish to create a “reasonably authentic” Chinese cuisine – seen, nonetheless, through the lens of American culture — Studio AvroKO has designed a restaurant that faithfully reproduces the typical Chinatown you can find in any American town. The classic outdoor/indoor style of the famous Chinese districts has been translated into the style of typical 1960s shops, further mixed with the vibrant, almost redundant color palette of the majority of American communities residing in Chinatowns. The employment of simple materials in these districts after World War II brought forth the installation of Western style backgrounds composed of panels made of paper and other simple materials featuring the recurrent ornamental motif of a shiny golden or jade goat.
Best restaurant in Asia | Rhoda, Hong Kong | Joyce Wang Studio
A local restaurant bringing back to light the character and food culture of chef Nathan Green. A combination of industrial taste and exquisite elegance, able to create a super-lively atmosphere during the day and a more relaxed ambience in the evening. Its Charred Cedar interior cladding is a clear reference to the grill used by the chef, while copper details draw inspiration from the latter’s passion for vintage car restauration.
Best restaurant in the Middle East & Africa | Urbanologi, Johannesburg, South Africa | Studio Haldane Martin
A giant Meccano seems to have provided the inspiration for the interiors of the Urbanologi by Haldane Martin Iconic, based inside the Mad Giant Brewery: a real, oversized construction kit. The restaurant lends a contemporary touch to Asian food: the unexpected combination of umami flavors and craft beer become the interior’s distinctive features, with an installation featuring a giant yeti placed at its center. No wonder to find polished concrete, bespoke counters with the shape of a giant bottle cap here. Each of the brewery’s piece of furniture are strictly custom-made and include original pieces by Haldane Martin, a perfect match with the huge, childlike murals adorning the walls.
