Samna is a restaurant of Middle Eastern cuisine that is located in the historic part of Kyiv in the building erected in 1797. The restaurant occupies the basement and the first floor. It has 5 halls, about 120 seats, and one cupper bridge. We started this project from the research about the history of the building. We found out that the house used to belong to Constantine Ypsilantis who was an important statesman of the Ottoman Empire. He lived there at the beginning of the XIX century when he escaped to Kyiv after the failure of liberating Greece rebellion, he had participated in. According to some theories, Constantine Ypsilantis could be the prototype of "The Count of Monte Cristo" protagonist from Alexandre Dumas novel. We walked off-the-beaten-path of rethinking historical interiors in their original mode. We had to find the right balance between the quoting rich historical background of the place and shaping our own contemporary vision of the restaurant. The idea was not to overdo it. Solid brick walls and arc domes define the aesthetics of the venue. We emphasized some authentic elements and created on their basis a new interior. There is plenty of copper in the restaurant’s interior. It emphasizes the nobility of the place and works as an impressive contrast with laconic shapes of a bar island, console tables, and a shelf with glasses hanging above the counter on steel ropes. The soft shade of copper is also present in the restaurant’s illumination. Spotlights’ streaks reflect from the copper plates hung under the ceiling and ray to the tables. Such a structure of light provides an effect of a rich and warm beam that enlightens the space most comfortably and never blinds in guests' eyes. Besides copper in the interior, you can see solid oak, leather, and steel. We chose them as materials that were wildly common when the “Ypsilantis House” was flourishing. One of the challenges for us was arranging utility systems that are necessary for any modern restaurant. But none of them existed when the house was built, and that is why they would look foreign on those walls. We solved this dilemma in favor of authentic architecture and pure walls. All utility systems and air ducts were hidden inside the furniture and interior elements to manifest the unique character of the place.