alati | sea ‘n salt cuisine Terrace
The αλάτι|sea ‘n salt cuisine is the refurbished main restaurant of the 5-star resort Vedema, A Luxury Collection Resort, a member of the world-wide alliance Starwood Hotels & Resorts. It is a paradigm example of the preservation of vernacular architecture on the island of Santorini. The hotel is built around a 400-year-old winery, located at the heart of the medieval village of Megalochori. These stone ‘canaves’ (the name given by the old Santorinians to their wineries) house the αλάτι|sea ‘n salt cuisine. In January 2014, we were asked to plan and design the renewal of two very different design spaces, in order to create one seafood restaurant with an identical name and menu. The first space was a large stone canava which was part of the old winery and the second space was the terrace of this same winery. On the terrace area, it is the houses and churches of the village which stretch down to the sea on the south side of the island which are the protagonists. Our goal was to design a Mediterranean summer scene influenced by Greek traditional elements and events. The tables are placed in alignment in a parallel position and are reminiscent of the traditional religious celebrations on the island. They are made of, black cast iron and cement tiles with the most intense Greek colours, white and blue. The lighting remains low and atmospheric bringing together the entire landscape with the restaurant. The dominant feature of the space are the large perforated traditional terracotta vessels made by traditional potters in Crete and serve as lanterns filtering the light through a warm tone. Traditional baskets from Santorini, wooden furniture and crocheted rope make up a Greek scene which if one slightly closes their eyes, will be lost in the traditional settlement of Megalochori.
