Italian Restaurant

Tel Aviv-Jaffa

The ’Italian At The Station’ - is an Italian restaurant situated within the historic train station district in Neve Tzedek. The restaurant’s location within a picturesque plaza and the adaptive re-use of an existing building , contribute to the restaurant’s design language, emphasizing the tectonic qualities of the historic structure. The project melds between traditional Italian and contemporary urban Tel Aviv, working with contrasts between conservatism and sensuality, roughness and finesse, a nostalgia for the past and "hunger for the present". Material choices combine crude and unpretentious materials with measured touches of Italian kitsch fused into TelAvivian style. This is reflected in the melding of the original sandstone wall, and the addition of a wooden shelf that serves as the restaurant's "food warehouse", or in the use of traditional Italian patterns printed with modern technology on ceramic tiles for cladding of furniture, or the artificial aging and rusting of the air vents. Lighting, both natural and artificial, is a central component of the space. The resulting interior design offers unique dining experiences where people can engage in food and conversation, in an unimposing fused environment of an Italian and Tel Aviv eatery.

Planning team: Yoav Messer Architects | Iftah Hayner | Sarit Kimhi
​Photographer: Rona Vatash