Designed by Melissa Collison, Neil Perry’s newest Sydney restaurant is inspired by Italy’s illustrious Amalfi Coast.
Italy’s Amalfi Coast is a 50-kilometre stretch of coastline that’s been a popular holiday spot for visitors since antiquity. Along the rugged shoreline, colourful fishing villages descend soaring cliffs and nestle around small beaches, looking out to the glistening Aegean Sea.
This seductive destination provided Melissa Collison with the design inspiration for Neil Perry’s new Rosetta Ristorante in Sydney. Located in the Harry Seidler-designed Grosvenor Place, the restaurant has a curving wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that fill the space with natural light and allow for view across the city and to the harbour. “As soon as we walked through the site, we imagined the Amalfi Coast, and I wanted to take patrons back to the mid-century Amalfi Coast when men were gentlemen and women were modern and anything went,” Melissa explains. “I also wanted to achieve a design worthy of a Harry Seidler building. It was an honour to have the opportunity to design within this iconic site.”
Rosetta Ristorante spreads across three levels with intimate dining on the mezzanine floor, alfresco dining on the terrace and the “best seats in the house” alongside the curved glass windows. This glazing influenced the light, bright and airy design, capturing the atmosphere and essence of Amalfi Coast and Sydney.
The materials, too, are Italian in nature with terrazzo flooring, handcrafted ceramic tiles, Bisazza glass mosaics, Florence-quarried Carrara marble and European-velvet upholstery. The colour palette evokes the sea with emerald green, sapphire blue and mother of pearl in the main dining room, and more sensuous oyster, smoky greys, silver, charcoal and cream on the mezzanine. Framed glass screens wrap around booth seating, and curving timber walls have brass, copper, zinc and smoky mirror geometric. Black and white photographs of the illustrious Italian coastline adorn the walls.
Melissa designed and commissioned the mid-century-style hand-blown glass chandeliers – in tones of blue at the entry, and white in the mezzanine. “They’re a nod to Venice, a city I love so much,” she says. Working with Electrolight, she also commissioned floor lamps of ADesignStudio’s Greenway light for the tables alongside the curved glazing. Inspired by the architectural heritage of the Sydney coastline, the brass lamp has a 3D-printed lattice that Melissa describes as “resembling fish nets caught with strings of pearls.”
Much like Amalfi Coast, the end result is glamourous, sophisticated and enticing. “It’s an elegant and demure restaurant that defies trends and is the epitome of design longevity,” Melissa says.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
The Sub-Zero Wolf showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne provide a creative experience unlike any other. Now showcasing all-new product ranges, the showrooms present a unique perspective on the future of kitchens, homes and lifestyles.
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
In our series spotlighting aficionados across the design industry, we spoke with Alexandra Guglielmino, who leads the Art Advisory team at Bluethumb Art Gallery.
A hospitality venue in the heart of Osaka comprising four dining options – a place where nostalgic pastimes meet high-end dining.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Archie Moore’s kith and kin unveiled in the Australia Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
July has arrived in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane and this exemplary luggage brand has a new home that ticks all the boxes.