The Restaurant & Bar Design Awards , also known as the 'Oscar of design of restaurants' , have celebrated this Thursday, October 14, their thirteenth edition.
The ceremony took place virtually and the creators of the most spectacular gastronomic temples in the world.
The best lighting, the best interior, the best color or the best ceiling These are just some of the categories to be awarded in this contest in which the excellence of the design of a wide range of gastronomic spaces is valued: from ships to airports, passing through museums, food trucks, pop up and of course, acclaimed establishments with Michelin star.
Now, above all the categories, two winners stand out, the best restaurant and the best bar of 2021. Nothing less than 844 projects from 69 countries have participated in this year's competition, but there could only be two overall winners.
The award for Best Restaurant in the World in 2021 has been for Firewood (Marbella) , designed by Astet Studio ; Meanwhile he Best Bar in the World in 2021 it is More 7 Bar (Xi'an, China) , work of Republican Metropolis Architecture.
Leña, Dani García's steak house at the Puente Romano Marbella hotel.
The 2021 awards have had a jury made up of 38 prominent personalities from the industry who work in areas such as design, architecture, hospitality and lifestyle.
aliyah khan (Vice President of Global Design Strategies for Marriott International), amanda elde r (CCO Kempinski Hotels), Dan Flannery (Managing Director of EDITION Hotels), Pinar Calimano (Director, Design EMEA Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts), sarah douglas (Wallpaper Editor-in-Chief) or Charmaine Mock (Publishing director, dining at Tatler Asia) have been some of the members of the jury.
The best restaurant in the world in 2021 is in Spain.
LEÑA, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD
Firewood, the steak house by Dani García at the Puente Romano Marbella hotel, wins the prize the most beautiful restaurant in the world awarded at the 2021 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards ceremony.
Designed by Astet Studio , firewood presents an elemental interior of stone and wood, “meant to evoke a sense of the primitive and the primal.”
This is the second time that the studio has worked with the acclaimed chef from Marbella and Leña's interiors are directly inspired by “the robust cooking style used in the restaurant and the wide gastronomic offer” , resulting in an abundance of organic forms that support a deep autumn color palette and moody lighting.
Leña is the work of Astet Studio, based in Barcelona.
“Geometry and materials keep my gaze moving”, said Aliya Khan (Marriott International vice president of global design strategies and jury member), of the restaurant in Danny Garcia.
Astet Studio, based in Barcelona, was founded at the end of 2018 by the architects Ala Zureikat and Oscar Engroba, with a clear focus on “authenticity, human value and the interaction between simplicity and complexity” , they affirm.
This is the second time that Astet Studio has been recognized at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, since previously, it was pre-selected for its work in sea wolf (Marbella), also by Dani García.
Congratulations Lena!
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BAR IN THE WORLD
Located in the luxurious Linow Hotel , the most beautiful bar in the world in 2021, More 7 Bar , is a story of the dynamic tension between old and new in the ancient metropolis of China, Xi'an.
At first glance, it looks boldly contemporary, with gleaming copper bricks, reflective ceilings and bold architectural details. Examining the key design motifs, however, a more nuanced narrative emerges: the interior's high copper walls evoke the old city walls and burnished earth tones reference the Xi'an's traditional soil color.
More 7 Bar, the best bar in the world in 2021.
The combination of materials and shapes, meanwhile, is inspired by the cacophonous and inharmonious Xi'an of old, when the streets were packed with travelers and Silk Road traders.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Guangzhou city, Republican Metropolis Architecture (RMA) has become one of the most pioneering design studios in China. This is the second time RMA has been recognized at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, winning in the ‘Asia Ceiling’ category in 2019.
“It takes you to another dimension and is extremely experiential. The colors, the configuration and the furniture make it an interactive installation”, he said. Patrick Abbattista , founder of Design Wanted and member of the jury.
Old and new meet at More 7 Bar.
WINNERS BY REGION
In turn, the winners have also been classified by geographical region: Asia, Europe, America, Middle East and Africa and finally, Australia and Pacific.
Leña (Marbella) is the best restaurant in Europe and the world in 2021 ; while the best bar on the Old Continent is in Budapest and is Muzsa, designed by Richmond International.
In Asia, the best restaurant is Peacock Alley, located in the Waldorf Astoria hotel (Xiamen, China) , work of AB Concept and the best bar – in Asia and in the world – is the aforementioned More 7 Bar (Xi'an, China), by Republican Metropolis Architecture.
Muzsa (Budapest, Hungary).
We jump to the American continent, where minami (Toronto Canada) wins the prize for the best restaurant thanks to the project of DesignAgency. To toast in the best bar in America we will have to go to Miami (United States), where it awaits us 8 Street Brickell, work of Bigtime Design Studios.
In the Middle East and Africa region, the best restaurant is L'Italien par Jean-Georges , at the hotel The Mamounia (Marrakesh, Morocco) , whose interior design bears the signature of Jouin Manku . The best bar, designed by HBAs , is in the hotel Sheraton Tel-Aviv (Israel) forks &More by Sheraton.
Finally, the best restaurant in the Australia and Pacific region is The Budapest Cafe, in Carlton (Australian) study biasol ; while the best bar is Nick and Nora's (Melbourne), from Studio Y.
You can check the full list of winners here.
The Budapest Cafe (Carlton, Australia).
OTHER CATEGORIES
Metropolis Architecture has been the overall winner of the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 2021. In addition, the virtual awards ceremony has also recognized 10 regional winners and have been announced 45 additional category winners via Instagram.
In the category ‘Alfresco & Biophilic Design’ (biophilic design) , the winners by region have been: Ginger (Singapore) by Emma Maxwell Design; EGO (Kalamata, Greece) by Andreas Petropoulos and Aba (Austin, USA) by Designed In-House + Variant Collaborative.
Talking about 'Cafes' , the best in Europe is in Bucharest (Romania), its name is I freed and is designed by Corvin Christian Studio.
In the rest of the world, the best coffees are: View (Fuzhou, China) designed by Karv One; Stereoscope (Newport Beach, USA) , the work of Wick Architecture and Design + LAND Design Studio; DOH! (Kuwait) designed by Lines and the aforementioned The Budapest Cafe (Carlton, Australia) , from Biasol.
DOH! (Kuwait).
The prizes for ‘Best hotel design’ , by region, have been, in addition to the aforementioned Muzsa (in the Four Seasons Gresham Palace , Budapest), work of Richmond International: Riggs Café (Located in the Riggs Washington DC Hotel) by Jacob Strauss; L'Italien par Jean-Georges (at La Mamounia, Marrakech) of Jouin Manku; Y Woodcut (at the Crown Sydney Hotel) , designed by loopcreative.
In the category of 'Best lighting' the winners have been: BIO MY BIO (St. Petersburg) by DA Bureau; 8 Street Brickell (Miami) , design by Bigtime Design Studios; Y Aged + Butchered (Jakarta, Indonesia) , from DSN Intervention Indonesia.
The winners in the section 'Visual identity' have been: The Toast Office (Belfast) , designed by Crown Creative + Mark Todd Architects; Double Dealer (New Orleans) , from The Made Shop + Farouki Farouki; Chunk Social (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) , by Lot Studio + H2R Design; The Laneway Pyrmont (Sydney), by Studio Carbon; Y Mother Pearl (Hong Kong) , from A Work of Substance.
Riggs Coffee (Washington DC, United States).
In addition to being the best restaurant in Europe and the world, Leña has also won the prize in the 'In Another Space' category (something like the design that they would award on another planet) at a European level.
In the rest of the regions, the prize 'In Another Space' has been awarded to: Dab-pa (Hong Kong) , from Minus Workshop; Peak (New York) , by Rockwell Group + Anthony Mrkic Architect; Masgouf (Farwaniya, Kuwait), of Lines; Y Ping Pong (Brisbane, Australia) , work of Derlot Group.
In the category 'Luxury', the winners have been: Muse by Tom Aikens (London) , by Korner Interiors; Yu Seafood (Toronto) , from Dialogue38; Peacock Alley (Xiamen, China) , from AB Concept; Y Clay (Adliya, Bahrain) , from Tristan Plessis Studio.
Peak at Hudson Yards (New York).
The awards to ‘Best multipurpose design’ (category 'Multiple') have been for: Nomad Chiado (Lisbon) , from Spacegram; Da Ya Li (Chengdu, China), from IN.X; Minami (Toronto) , from DesignAgency; &More by Sheraton (Tel Aviv) , from HBA; Y Nick and Nora's (Melbourne) , from Studio Y.
The category 'Standalone' , which rewards those unique and independent restaurants, recognizes as winners: Maison Francois (London) , from The Guild of Saint Luke; The Nine (Shanghai) , from GID; Osten (Buenos Aires) , by Hitzig Militello Architects; L'Œnothèque (Marrakesh) , by Jouin Manku; Y Chancery Lane, Melbourne , of Bergman & Co.
In the category 'Best interior surface' , the prizes have gone to Girl (Barcelona) , by Liat Eliav; KidsWinshare Plus (Chengdu, China) , of PANORAMA Design Group; Ilios (Cancun, Mexico) , by Filipao Nunes Architects; Nomad (Manama, Bahrain) , from Ark4lab of architecture; Y 400 Gradi (Brunswick, Australia) , by Dean Dyson Architects.