|From the architect|

We wanted to build something crafty. Pursuing visions creates distinctive things and each step in the pursuit becomes exciting and in turn opens new possibilities. In approaching to create we believe in listening to our surroundings and materials and then applying our craft to what we hear.

Italian is a nicely flexible cuisine and we walked an interesting tightrope. We looked for a balance as we’re pulled to one side by Dhaka’s expectations of Italian cuisine and to the other by the thought, “What would an Italian chef do with these ingredients?” For example, an eboir isn’t part of Italian cuisine because it’s not grown in Italy, but does that mean it shouldn’t be part of an Italian restaurant in a place where it does grow? So we’re inspired both by asking how ingredients might fit into Italian cuisine, and by pursuing the answers; because we’re continually brought back to, why are we here doing this restaurant, and, have we made choices that please our senses and our aesthetics?

Like with trying to listen to ingredients, we attended to what the space told us when we designed it. The view was the original attraction. The next step was to create seating which gave guests the best access to that view. As we built from there, we wanted to find elegance in simple materials that would quietly add up to a feeling of being somewhere special.

Gallery View: