Pentolina is a new Italian casual dining restaurant, bringing the art of traditional pasta making found in Rome’s winding laneways to Little Collins Street in Melbourne. It captures Italy’s passion for food, design and good company, fusing it with Melbourne’s hospitality aesthetic. We looked to Rome’s rich culture for inspiration and designed the interiors informed by the building’s existing fabric, historic Roman ruins and typical Italian pasta bars. The renovation of the century-old building revealed hand-rendered concrete walls that have been refined to provide a patinated backdrop suggesting the stone façades of historic Roman laneways. A double-curved counter with bar stools is the central feature of Pentolina evokes the nostalgia of old-school pasta bars realised for inner-city dining. Spanning the length of the restaurant, the counter unifies the key functions of the restaurant: the bar, cookline, pasta making and dining. In true Italian fashion, the setting encourages guests to engage in conversation with each other and staff, while offering the opportunity to see and smell the fresh pasta being homemade on site. The curves of the bar are mimicked in the overhead shelving, which enhances the sense of intimacy.
Pentolina
Biasol

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Designer
Biasol
Client
Matthew & Julia Picone
Floor area
122.00 ㎡
Completion
2018