Allies Design and Michaelis Boyd work on Kitchen Italia launch

Allies Design has created the identity and Michaelis Boyd the interiors for new restaurant chain Kitchen Italia.

The consultancies were commissioned by Jamie Barber, who owns the Villandry and Hush restaurants. The first branch of Barber’s Kitchen Italia venture opens in the Westfield London shopping centre tomorrow.

The concept behind the restaurant, which Barber hopes to roll out to other UK sites, is for an all-day family cantina, serving fresh pasta made in-house. Allies Design was appointed to the work in May, having been recommended by Patricia Michelson of La Fromagerie. The consultancy had worked with Michelson on the La Fromagerie website and packaging design. For Kitchen Italia it was appointed to create an identity, packaging, signage, uniforms and menus.

Michaelis Boyd was also appointed directly to work on the restaurant interiors. It says Barber had seen and been impressed by previous restaurant work it had done.

Jo Harvey, head of sales and marketing for the restaurant chain, says, ‘Allies Design and Michaelis Boyd took a lot from each other in the design. They both kept to the bronze, copper and gold palette.’

Susanna Cook, creative director of Allies Design, adds that the long table recess which runs along all the bench-like tables in the restaurant was used to inform the branding.

She says, ‘The identity design reflects the interior design – the long wooden table with an inlaid stripe of copper that runs along the centre. It also reflects the fresh pasta – the hand-made roll of spaghetti, rolled out on the table.

‘The line allows us to be playful as it carries through the various forms of communication – turning into spaghetti on a fork or evolving into a line of oil as it dribbles down the front of the olive oil labels.’

Luke Chandresinghe, project leader for Michaelis Boyd, says, ‘We were briefed to create a contemporary Italian kitchen, open-plan, with bench seating.

‘We used olive ash wood on the tables, chairs and floor. We worked closely with Allies Design towards the end of the project, and it used this colour scheme in its branding.’

An Italian job in London

• Kitchen Italia owner Jamie Barber is also the owner of Villandry and Hush restaurants

• The first branch of Kitchen Italia opens at Westfield London tomorrow, and there are plans to roll out the brand further, although as yet no definite sites have been identified

• Allies Design was commissioned to come up with an identity for use throughout the restaurant

• Michaelis Boyd was commissioned to create the interiors, which the practice hopes will be rolled out to other restaurants