At Amal Miami, lush references to the restaurant’s location in Coconut Grove intermingle with odes to Lebanese tradition and delicacies. Studio Munge’s interior is a feast for all the senses, a job that exemplifies the Toronto exercise‘s passion for layering large-stop materials and finishes to develop an immersive space.
The most delightful gesture at Amal Miami are the massive woven baskets – measuring 8 ft across – that kind the sensuous pendant lighting previously mentioned the eating tables. The artisanal bohemian parts, produced bespoke for the restaurant, are a nod to the coconut husks discovered in the nearby grove. Their deep tones are a counterpoint to the interior’s mild, but earthy, palette of dusty rose, muted terracotta and pastel hues – curated to conjure the Mediterranean shore.
During the double-height room, Studio Munge made use of components to delineate spatial functions: a band of raked oak wainscotting along the white plaster partitions contrasts with the polished concrete floors. Tall arched portals, lined on the inside with a circle motif, hook up the open kitchen and bar to the major dining room. A white-washed pergola provides the scale of the ceiling down although also accentuating its loftiness.
On the amount of facts, vegetation are front and centre: an assortment of handcrafted vases enhance the feeling of indoors conference outside. The tactile finishes during come to feel hand-hewn: the tender seating with its woven rope accents, the tables with their tambour bases, the surface-lit bar with marble leading that has a creamy leather end, the patchwork of rugs underfoot. In the suspended glass cabinets of the bar, designed with tubular steel, wooden and glass, there is even a curated display of earthenware vessels by ceramic artist Ben Medansky.
The Miami outpost is the 2nd Amal cafe that Studio Munge has designed. (The unique, in Toronto, is also owned by INK Enjoyment, whose founder, the nightclub and cafe impresario Charles Khabouth, hails from Lebanon.) Led by Alessandro Munge, the exercise has produced some of the hospitality sector’s most exceptional interiors – such as people at Toronto’s Park Hyatt and Bisha Lodge (yet another Khabouth organization) – featuring deluxe products and elevated particulars.
Munge will be talking about his work with Azure Editor in Chief Elizabeth Pagliacolo on Azure Trade Speak Day (Friday, September 23) at IDS Vancouver. Tickets are readily available listed here.
