type: restaurant
location: Kyiv, Ukraine
area: 168 m2
status: built (2022)
team: Oleg Volosovskiy, Pavel Bilous, Natalya Galtseva, Vira Zinchenko
photo credits: Serhii Polyushko

The Gustoso restaurant project is a complete reconstruction of an Italian restaurant in an ultra-short time frame. We have worked comprehensively on the whole concept: expanded the menu, and wine list, changed zoning, and transformed the interior.

Functionally, this is a hall with classic seating: from tables for two to an area with a table for a large company for a solemn celebration.

During construction work, a round window appeared, uniting the entrance group with the hall. Display cabinets made of metal mesh, filled with collectible bottles and elegant tableware. They are like a veil, hiding small details and creating a hint of privacy. Finally, a mirrored balcony with landscaping appeared on the stairs, hiding the entrance to the economic zone and where a couple of visitors can retire.

We have replaced the classic massive bar counter with an openwork decorative one that separates the bartender from the visitors. It serves as a conditional plane for dispensing dishes, a showcase for food, or decorative installations.

Inspired by Tuscan cuisine and flowers, we made the main hall look like a fertile olive tree – green in all gradations. The walls are decorated with panels the color of thick red Tuscan wine. The forms of the Florentine classics – arches, rosettes of cathedrals – were modernized and adapted to the contrasting lines that metrically set the mood of the interior.

We used the work of a young artist Yevgeny Klimenko to create a stained glass window – a window into another dimension from an Italian courtyard to a Kyiv bar to mix moods and traditions. Angels peep out from the ceiling at the visitors. The hands of the master of the Renaissance, with a smile familiar to everyone, refer us to the classical interiors of that time.

The entrance group is indicated by a classical arch with a transition to the rustication of the facade and is similar to perspective portals and entrances to Tuscan courtyards.