July 19, 2018

5 Simply Amazing Eateries With Playful Touches

Casual restaurants with touches of cheek.

1. Gastro Pelayo Trinquet by Mercader de Indias 

Mercader de Indias aimed to capture the essence of tennis for the Valencia court’s on-site restaurant. “It’s designed to be up high,” owner Carlos Serra says, “so that when people to see the games they don’t bother the diner, but still have access to the bar.” Colors resemble Valencia’s pilota colors while a sculpture of a tossing hand hangs over banquettes as a playful tribute to the sport and the court out back.

2. Wild Ginger by SkB Architects

Seattle-based Wild Ginger enlisted SkB Architects to design their new Lincoln Square South location to evoke the spirit of their first restaurant. The 6,000-square-foot space opens on a teak vestibule, flowing into a line of tables between rows of booths and leading to a private dining room in the back.

3. White Monkey Pizza Lab by Ippolito Fleitz Group

White Monkey Pizza Lab & Bar in Leipzig, Germany aims to reinvent the classic pizzeria with a new design by Ippolito Fleitz Group. To reference the restaurant’s name, the designers used cheeky simian shapes throughout the 3,300 square feet, as well as other colorful nods to Italian pizzerias. Throughout the ground level, the 130 seats are configured to cater to various types of diners: families and solo patrons, with a mix of banquettes, freestanding two-tops, and spots at the E-shaped bar.

4. Spooning by Zentralnorden

Zentralnorden designed Berlin sweet shop Spooning, the first German outpost dedicated to cookie dough, as a bright and cheery eatery. “The inviting and inspiring environment piques the curiosity of customers of all ages,” Christian Skeide said. Walls are painted cotton candy pink and a grid of badminton birdies adds to the cheery atmosphere.

5. Bon Bon Fait Maison by Interior Design Laboratorium

Stamos Hondrodimos of Interior Design Laboratorium and Paris-trained chef Kriton-Minas Poulis joined forces to open an ice cream shop on the Greek island of Kythera. Hondrodimos renovated an 1860’s two-story building, preserving the wood-beam ceiling, built-in benches, and the mosaic tile floor. The overall vibe is… quite chill! “I wanted everything to remind customers of their childhood summer ice cream,” Hondrodimos said.

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