Which is your ultimate destination restaurant in the world? Here are some of our favourite restaurant interiors and brand stories.
We might be a small team but we share a wealth of travel experiences which fuel our creativity and inspire many of our design schemes, especially sustainable ones.
Here are a few of our favourite restaurants around the world, each with a great story and connection to their surrounding land.
NO. 1
MIL PERU - A Timeless Journey.
Up there at no.1 we couldn’t resist Mil, a breathtaking restaurant located 11,500 ft above sea level, in Peru.
A timeless journey, Mil is located close to the Inca ruin of Moray above Cusco, Peru, the kitchen’s focus is its surrounding Andean landscape and the techniques of the past. Diners are taken on their won journey to Mil, through different altitudes, course by course, focusing on what can be grown at this epic height.
The hillsides surrounding Mil, are filled with the variety of native plants that, since ancient times, have been used by locals for their nutritional and medicinal purposes, among others. It is these great ingredients that help to tell the story of Mil and are an important part of the cuisine.
The restaurant is housed within a former vicuña breeding centre, there’s no grand entrance: walk along one side of the rustic building then through a passage with herbs strung across three lines, a visual guide to the feast ahead. The well-stocked bar is decorated simply, allowing the handiwork of the ichu grass roof and drawings of local botanicals to shine.
There is something refreshingly beautiful about Mil, it feels more like a place to learn, a text book and a fascinating story.
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NO. 2
KLEIN JAN, KALAHARI, SOUTH AFRICA
No.2 would be Klein Jan, the Kalahari restaurant hidden under a 1920s desert farmhouse.
Storytelling is a fundamental aspect of the dining journey at Klein Jan, filled with culinary traditions, ingredients and regional produce of the Northern Cape. The menu is part of the restaurant's remote and dramatic landscapes, and is inspired by the creative people of this unexplored region.
Boscia House, however, remains our guests’ first impression, and I wanted this century-old farmhouse to convey a sense of nostalgic theatre and an actual window into the past. I wanted it to feel like a still life painting come to life.
Every element of Klein JAN – and so, the people behind it – share Peta’s passion for the project. “I didn’t fully understand what I was about to get involved in,” remembers Dean Jacobs, who was responsible for the shop fitting and joinery.
https://janonline.com/restaurantkleinjan/
NO. 3
CENTRAL LIMA, PERU
The menu takes diners through different Peruvian ecosystems, categorised by altitude – from below sea level in the Pacific Ocean to the high peaks of the Andes. Each dish reflects the origin of its ingredients, from Dry Valley (shrimp, loche squash, avocado) to Amazonian Water (pacu fish, watermelon and coca leaf).
Central first appeared on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2013 at No.50, just as its influence across Latin America was rising steadily. Ten years later, it becomes the first ever South American eatery to earn the title of The World’s Best Restaurant.
Interiors : Guests are greeted by an unassuming whitewashed Boscia House, much of the century-old cottage remains untouched. It is like stepping back in time as diners are guided through the antique-adorned interior to the back veranda of the cottage, shaded by an aged tin roof. Here guests will enjoy canapés whilst learning a little bit of the history of the house.
Guests are next led under the earth via a helical staircase accessed via an old water tower, away from the desert heat to a depth where the temperature drops to a steady 15˚C. Here, guests will pass through a crypt-like, twenty-meter-long root cellar – a concept that was first developed in the 18th century, pre-refrigeration, where much of the locally sourced produce is stored.
https://centralrestaurante.com.pe/default.html
