If there’s one thing that makes going out to eat even better, it’s a restaurant that’s taken full advantage of the beauty of ceramics. Easy to clean and maintain, suitable for high traffic and producing oodles of character, tiles are a restaurant’s best friend. After collecting our favourite interiors for years, below are a few of our selected favourites.
1. Voodoo Ray’s in East London, England
This pizza restaurant in Dalston references New York and its home in London with design by Gundry & Ducker. The classic square glazed tile is used in full effect across the entire space offering a clean and clear entrance and fun pops of colour to be enjoyed whilst waiting for or consuming a slice. Huge 3D text dances across the back wall whilst pillars are blanketed in vibrant yellows, contrasting with the bold aqua worktop. The sleek surface of the tiles contrasts with elements of the original building, namely the exposed brickwork which adds extra character to this playful interior.
2. Tunateca BalfegΓ³ in Barcelona, Spain
This spectacular space takes inspiration from Mediterranean red tuna, translating the flesh, scales, and sea into a variety of tiles designed by El Equipo Creativo. The ocean feel of the Blue Room transports diners into an underwater world with schools of fish floating above their heads, and the sea bed imitated by the specially designed tiles that coat the floor. The Ronqueo Room refers to the traditional, manual dissection of the tuna and the walls wrap the room in glistening blue and silver scale-like tiles. Tuna pink is used as accents throughout the restaurant, including the impressive imitation of tuna flesh used as a tabletop.
3. Briscola Pizza Society in Milan, Italy
This restaurant takes its name from a trick-taking card game and has transformed the classic card decor into a dramatic tiled flooring. The whole vibe is revolutionised with the large life-sized playing card characters that can be seen along the walls providing atmosphere and whimsy.
4. Barsa Taberna in Toronto, Canada
This tapas bar keeps it simple, with one tile design created in a multitude of formats which produces an enigmatic look that takes just a slight step away from homogeneity. The designers at studio +tongtong adds vibrancy with a graphic blue patterned floor and a bold wine bottle mosaic made by Cobalt Fabrication.
5. Ketchup in Xanthi, Greece
This restaurant’s looks are slightly deceiving, with a flakeboardboard style surface found nearly everywhere in the small establishment. Greek design studio Koutras Konstantinos specified Vives’ Strand porcelain wood range to produce the effect. Combining a variety of prints and patterns, the result is both inviting and clean, as well as wonderfully decorative, and Ketchup takes full advantage of the technical benefits of tile without scrimping on aesthetics.
6. Ristorante Papo in Turin, Italy
This Turin restaurant takes full advantage of distressed finishes, adding an immediate burst of character. With tiles created by Ceramiche Caesar the small space is also home to large formats that work to make the moderate interior feel much bigger. The bright aqua blue is friendly and refreshing, with the silver and turquoise fish-scale wall tiles completing the seafood vibe.
7. Four Hundred Rabbits in South East London, England
This colourful interior has been a favourite of ours for a while now, with retro shades and lively lines creating a fantastic place to enjoy a meal. Coloured, small format, tiles from Solus Ceramics add to the effortless style, with matching grout ensuring the colours pop out from the counters. It’s a simple use of tile with spectacular results offering a truly chic atmosphere.
8. Enigma in Barcelona, Spain
This is a stand-out space – like eating inside a block of ice without the chill. This 700sq metre restaurant is topped and tailed in cool tones on slabs specially designed by Neolith. The irregular surface texture, unusual design, and mysterious layout makes Enigma a real… enigma, and an intriguing space to ejoy the 3.5hours of gastronomic delights.
9. Ristorante Terminus in Porto Pojana, Switzerland
Senio tiles feature as the main source of decor since Ristorante Terminus’ 12 month-long restoration. Architects Gaffurini Pagani Tresoldi Associates developed a simple concept – small, elongated, three-dimensional semi-ciruclar tiles envelope the space, respecting the original building but adding a new layer of design. The result is simple lovely with views of the lake making it even more so.
10. Llama in Copenhagen, Denmark
This restaurant is a party of ceramics, with mix and match tiles coating the interior from top to bottom. Bjarke Ingels’ architecture firm BIG partnered with Kilo Design to transform a formerly disused space into the vibrant South-American themed restaurant it is today.
A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, August 2020.
[/mepr-show]