Tabla de contenidos para Issue 77 December 2021 en Artichoke

When we presented the 2020 Eat Drink Design Awards in November last year, I innocently thought the worst was over for our hospitality operators. They’d spent much of 2020 pivoting and pirouetting to new business models but, by the end of the year, it looked as though things were finally looking up. Alas, 12 months later, we have seen another year of lockdowns and operators clawing their way through a whole other set of challenges. So it was to our great surprise that we received a bumper number of entries to this year’s Eat Drink Design Awards. You can’t keep the hospitality industry down! It seems the prolonged periods of closure proved a good time to engage the design industry to create refreshed and new interiors. Our 2021 jury members…

400 Gradi by Dean Dyson Architects Neapolitan culture and Melbourne’s industrial heritage collide in a new and refined fitout for renowned pizzeria 400 Gradi by Dean Dyson Architects. Located in Melbourne’s Brunswick East, the restaurant embodies the owner’s passion for food, family and gatherings. With textured concrete walls, terrazzo surfaces, mood lighting and subtle greenery, the restaurant interior channels an authentic Italian-style eatery. A distinctive golden archway defines the dining areas and a centrally located bar acts as the centrepiece of the fitout. The terrazzo-covered curved counter with upholstered bar stools evokes the nostalgia of an old-school espresso bar and is central to the unified dining experience. “The use of mirrors and the strategic placement of seating allows diners to connect with the restaurant on a multi-sensory level,” says Dyson.…

Winner Best Restaurant Design Designer Fiona Lynch Interior Design Location Parramatta, New South Wales Jury comment — An Italian restaurant housed in the recently opened Parramatta Square building, CicciaBella avoids the dull over-industrial treatments often associated with new builds, instead drawing upon a sophisticated suite of materials to create a truly unique eatery. The jury engaged with the imaginative, unexpected use of textures such as coir matting, unpainted Besser block, open-seamed suede, crushed cardboard cladding and chiselled bluestone. The most playful touches include galvanized steel walls, some of which conceal storage, and tie-dyed cotton banners and concrete columns etched with graffiti by street artist Benzo. The designers intended to reference the natural stone, dark timber and leather of a traditional trattoria, but rather than a literal interpretation, they’ve created an…

Best Bar Design Best Cafe Design Best Installation Design Best Identity Design Best Retail Design Best Restaurant Design Best Hotel Design To see more images visit — eat-drink-design.com/gallery…

For most of 2021, we have seen new ways of living and coming together. Our public spaces and streets have changed with the inclusion of physical distancing signs, bollards and outdoor eateries. Our parks, homes, offices and schools have taken on a new meaning. And our interaction with products and services is being re-evaluated and transformed. Designers have undoubtedly entered a new world and are being called upon to find new solutions and question our values and ethical responsibilities. What is it that makes our lives better? What makes good design? Since its formation in 1948, the DIA has focused on design as the discipline, rather than focusing on individual disciplines within design. We felt that these times and the challenges we are all facing had presented DIA with an…

From the jury — You can’t keep a good hospitality industry down. Not yet, anyway. You’d be forgiven for thinking this year’s Eat Drink Design Awards might’ve been a muted affair, given the global pandemic that in 2021 further tightened its grip on the nation’s restaurant, bar and cafe operators. Yet the jury fielded 128 entries across seven categories, just 12 fewer than 2020, and almost as many as 2019. Granted, many of these projects were commissioned before COVID-19 began to define the way we dine and drink, but it was still heartening to witness this celebration of design after such a gruelling 18 months. Also heartening was how the design of our restaurants, bars, cafes and hotels continues to evolve. If there was an overarching trend across this year’s…

Winner Best Hotel Design Designer Bates Smart Location Melbourne, Victoria Jury comment — The newly opened Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street seamlessy combines the heritage Equity Chambers building with a modern 16-storey tower and includes two distinct food and beverage spaces. Luci, the hotel’s restaurant, complements original details such as coffered ceilings, ornate plasterwork and carved timber features with rich upholsteries, handsome banquette seating and modern lighting, creating a timeless lobby restaurant experience. Its location, in the original building’s former grand hall, can be viewed from above from the reception area, placing it at the centre of the guest experience. The Douglas Club is the opposite – a charismatic, intimate bolthole anchored by a striking marble cocktail bar. The jury appreciated the contrast between the spaces, which spoke to the…

Special Shapes from Brickworks A sculptural, artisan take on Brickworks’ classic La Paloma range, Special Shapes bricks are reminiscent of Spanish architecture. The range includes three forms – Tash, Curved and Comb – and two colourways inspired by sun-drenched facades. Azul is a charcoal with a blue undertone and Miro is a warm off-white. The bricks are composed of a carefully curated mix of minerals and clays, which are prepared and crushed to create an exceptionally high-quality, fine finish. Brickworks — brickworks.com.au Sequence tables from Coco Flip Melbourne studio Coco Flip has added to its Sequence dining table range, introducing Sequence Round and Sequence Oval. Balancing the timeless and the contemporary, Sequence dining tables fit a variety of uses, from frolicking dinner parties to important work meetings. Their chunky, cylindrical…

Set within the weighted concrete form of the JPW-designed Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney, the new Nicholson Galleries, designed by Studio Plus Three, houses what is proudly proclaimed by the university’s website as “the most extensive collection of antiquities in the southern hemisphere.” Built around the 3,000 artefacts originally donated by Sir Charles Nicholson in 1860, the collection has expanded over the years with various acquisitions, donations and bequests, alongside objects uncovered by the university’s own archaeological exploits into a collection some 10 times greater than the original donation. Relocating the collection from its previous location in the corner of the original university quadrangle building provided the gallery an opportunity to reflect, reassess and consider what its intention should be. The gallery comprises six exhibition spaces…

Bathroom signs from The English Tapware Company Made from the finest grade solid brass, these eye-catching, playful bathroom signs by Joseph Giles are designed to be bonded to the face of a door, using the pointed studs on the back. Available in Female, Male, Female with Hair, Male with Hair, Disabled, Baby Change and Shower, they come with a fitting template that allows for accurate hole-drilling. They have no visible fixings from the front and are supplied as single items. The English Tapware Company — englishtapware.com.au Frame tapware by Novas Frame is a new collection of designed-to-match tapware, door hardware and bathroom accessories from Australian creator Novas. Creative director Nicholas Johnston designed the pieces to create “true connection” between interior spaces through the continuation of materiality and design. Taking inspiration…

Winner Best Bar Design Designer IF Architecture Location St Kilda, Victoria Jury comment — There’s an inevitability to Little Prince Wine, where it’s difficult to imagine this space being designed any differently. Slotted beneath St Kilda’s iconic Prince Hotel off Acland Street, this intimate wine bar effortlessly blends the old and the new. It’s in the detail – the fibreglass champagne tub that greets guests upon arrival, the mirrored specials board, the Art Deco-inspired light fittings – but also the easy blend of beautiful curves with striking textures such as dark tiles, handsome vertical timber panelling and exposed concrete beams. The seamless incorporation of a retail element underlines the harmony of the space, but it’s Little Prince’s capacity to encourage punters to dwell that registered with the jury: the easy…

Winner Hall of Fame Designer Brian Kiernan with later additions by Tyrone Dearing & Meacham Nockles Location Darlinghurst, New South Wales Hall of Fame reflection by Matt Shea, on behalf of the jury — Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. Leonardo DiCaprio. Thandie Newton. Julia Roberts. It’s perhaps easier to ask about the famous faces who haven’t graced the communal table at Bills. “People felt understood and comfortable,” Bills Darlinghurst owner Bill Granger says. “I don’t understand why. It’s not what you think a celebrity hotspot to be.” Not in the traditional sense, anyway. Twenty-eight years after Granger opened his iconic cafe in the poky corner tenancy of a narrow Darlinghurst terrace, there’s a fair chance you’ve sat there for a recovery breakfast or a birthday date. And if you haven’t…

Scratch the vivid surface of designer Jordan Fleming’s work and you soon discover a narrative of connection, community and the desire to use resources as close to home as possible. Though Fleming suggests she falls “into the category of accidental sustainability,” her ethical approach is a little more deliberate and very much aligned with the culinary concept of paddock to plate. Fleming grew up in Myrtleford in regional Victoria, once home to Australia’s tobacco fields, which drew a large Italian community who came to work on the farms. “Food was everything. My family aren’t Italian, but I had an adopted nonna who lived on the property next door.” Childhood memories of homemade grappa being left at the door for Christmas are recollections clearly articulated, consciously or otherwise, through works like…