Villanelle

Project Details

Project Description

Serving breakfast through dinner, the design challenge was to find the right balance between a casual coffee and breakfast spot, an inviting lunch venue, and a more formal-feeling chef-driven bar and dinner establishment. The resulting interior ties in country elements with a variety of wood types in the long and cozy space.

The backdrop for the slender, 75-foot-long room is a whitewashed brick wall that serves as the visual datum for the restaurant. The bar, which links the front and back dining rooms, and the seating banquette in the rear extend out from this wall. Concealed lighting grazes it to enhance its textural qualities. Brass-framed mirrors front and back strategically expand the sense of space.

The restaurant’s overall palette is anchored by muted gray stained oak on the floors and millwork. The exception is the stained pine L-shaped wall and ceiling that defines the bar area, where the pine texture turns up the volume slightly on the grain and character of the wood. The bar top is a generously scaled expanse of white Carrara marble with a subtly defined front edge shape. The back of the bar is anchored by a shelving system of a set of interconnecting brass bars and glass shelves that add an informal “constructive” quality layered in front of the textured brick.

The room’s wood furnishings include teak barstools, classic mid-century sustainable teak Moller 78 chairs with handwoven cord seats, quarter sawn oak tables and floors, and gray-washed pine walls and ceiling. Large tree-filled windows in the rear flood the room with light, and an original digitally composed nature panorama by Austin, Texas-based artist Ysabel LeMay adorns a wall, adding a subtle color accent to the understated space.