Grassa is an Italian restaurant in the centre of Moscow. In its interior, we conveyed the vibe of the streets of Bologna and created a warm, chamber-like atmosphere, where every visitor will feel like a favourite guest of the owner and the chef.
We emphasised the main values of the project -openness and sincerity - in the layout: all the processes of the restaurant take place in front of the visitors' eyes. As soon as you enter the place, you see the chef greeting you right from the open kitchen. You may further see the bouquets of spices drying, a cloth carelessly thrown over: everything is sincere and lively as if you were at home.
Grassa's interior is discreet, subtle, built on nuances through which it gradually reveals itself to the visitors, opening up with each new contact with the space.
The whole interior is made exclusively of natural materials that are as close as possible to each other in texture and colour: wood, Italian travertine, linen textiles - this allowed us to make the space calm, safe, and ‘embracing’ the guest.
Furthermore, in this project, it was important for us to find a fine balance between restrained modernity and vintage. Here we emphasise details that are imperceptible at first glance: vintage chairs from Bologna, crockery from European flea markets, neat brass details inlaid into the tables and floor.
Instead of designer decor we used real vintage artefacts, and some wooden elements were aged on purpose to fill them with some history. We also brought to life the principle of vintage-modernity balance in the folding screens, which can be found in the design of wardrobe and window shutters. Here we took the form of the European folding screen of the XVIII century and interpreted it in a modern reading.
A subtle nuance in this interior is added by the contrast that appears in the rhymes of minimalist and textured forms, e.g., the textured wooden tabletop of the massive centre table and the smooth stone tabletop of the bar.
Grassa's interior can be called truly vivid. It will experience some changes over time: the parquet will age beautifully, the stone bar top will get glass imprints, and the brass will have fine scratches and fingerprints. Hence, the restaurant will be populated with the vintage items not only brought by the owner from his travels in Europe but also those reflecting the stories of the visitors.
