Meat The Fish, London – England

Originally imagined and developed in Beirut, Meat the Fish unveils its first venture in Europe in the heart of London : a cream and rust toned space that immerses guests in a land and sea in¬spired scape reflective of the restaurant’s culinary approach – daily MediterrAsian dishes, adapted seasonally.Located on Cadogan Gardens street in Chelsea, the project occupies the ground floor and lower ground of a four story building. The elongated interior unfolds through a window façade on the street and benefits from a skylight in its central part. Opposite the front door at the back of the space, a window frames a majestic Birch tree.The proposed design guides the user through a succession of 3 seated zones: the dining area at the front, the bar in the middle and the lounge at the back. All through, a unified flooring and a continu¬ous wood gridded ceiling keep the visual cohesion across the connected zones.A sculptural bar occupies the center of the space and becomes a large light-filled place of encoun¬ter. Entirely made of mirror polished stainless steel with thick rounded edges and an outline drawn from a cross-section of a crab, its surface reflects distorted sights of textures and patterns around it adding a wave-like motion to the static interior as one walks through.In the dining area near the street-view windows, a large bas relief ceramic installation defines the fireplace, a special commission by artist Souraya Haddad. The ceramic panels form together an oversized sculpture of free flowing tentacles. Across from the fireplace, mirror panels reflect this scene, doubling the width of the space.Similarly towards the far end of the room, the lounge seating is widened by a wall of mirrors reflect¬ing an opposite wall, paneled with a custom textile mural. Another masterpiece of technical skills commissioned to Bokja, the stretched fabric holds large embroidered illustrations of a playful wild¬life scenery composed by the fauna and flora that depict the world of Meat the Fish.Mimicking a geological condition with cracks to indicate the walking flow around the space, the cus¬tom black and white encaustic tiles lay across the different zones.Walls and ceiling are articulated in olive ash, a reminder of the crates used initially in the first store of Meat the Fish in Beirut.At the lower ground floor, the restrooms area is another harmonious cluster of textures and sculp¬tural elements extending the scheme underground. A circular mosaic pattern of encaustic tiles introduces colour and sheen, while the urchin pendant lamps and wood panels soften the mood.