Studio Munge’s Amal Restaurant Brings Lebanon to Miami –

At Amal Miami, lush references to the restaurant’s placing in Coconut Grove intermingle with odes to Lebanese lifestyle and delicacies. Studio Munge’s interior is a feast for all the senses, a project that exemplifies the Toronto observe‘s enthusiasm for layering large-end elements and finishes to build an immersive area.

The most pleasant gesture at Amal Miami are the significant woven baskets – measuring eight ft across – that variety the sensuous pendant lighting over the dining tables. The artisanal bohemian items, made bespoke for the restaurant, are a nod to the coconut husks found in the close by grove. Their deep tones are a counterpoint to the interior’s light, but earthy, palette of dusty rose, muted terracotta and pastel hues – curated to conjure the Mediterranean shore. 

Throughout the double-peak room, Studio Munge used elements to delineate spatial characteristics: a band of raked oak wainscotting along the white plaster walls contrasts with the polished concrete flooring. Tall arched portals, lined on the inside with a circle motif, link the open up kitchen area and bar to the main eating space. A white-washed pergola brings the scale of the ceiling down though also accentuating its loftiness.

On the stage of details, crops are entrance and centre: an assortment of handcrafted vases boost the perception of indoors assembly outdoor. The tactile finishes all through feel hand-hewn: the smooth seating with its woven rope accents, the tables with their tambour bases, the floor-lit bar with marble top rated that has a creamy leather finish, the patchwork of rugs underfoot. In the suspended glass shelves of the bar, produced with tubular steel, wooden and glass, there is even a curated show of earthenware vessels by ceramic artist Ben Medansky.

The Miami outpost is the next Amal cafe that Studio Munge has designed. (The authentic, in Toronto, is also owned by INK Amusement, whose founder, the nightclub and restaurant impresario Charles Khabouth, hails from Lebanon.) Led by Alessandro Munge, the apply has made some of the hospitality sector’s most extraordinary interiors – including those people at Toronto’s Park Hyatt and Bisha Lodge (one more Khabouth organization) – featuring high-class materials and elevated aspects.

Munge will be speaking about his perform with Azure Editor in Chief Elizabeth Pagliacolo on Azure Trade Speak Working day (Friday, September 23) at IDS Vancouver. Tickets are out there here.