Barbatella restaurant represents the second collaboration between Chef Fabrizio Aielli  and GrizForm Design. The first, SeaSalt, was a huge success and Barbatella is sure to follow in its footsteps. For the design, GFD drew on Chef Aielli’s Italian heritage and imagined the restaurant’s two separate buildings as reunited sisters who share the same Italian background, but have lived different lives.

The dining and gelato sister’s hands are callused from the hard work she lovingly puts into her farm in the country. She is homey, warm, and a little rough around the edges with wood tables, brick floors, and terrazzo counters. She is honest and her kitchen—complete with a copper-clad wood-burning pizza oven—is open for all to see.

The bar sister moved to the city and has spent her time among the well-dressed, high-society crowd. She is sophisticated as evidenced by her state-of-the-art Enomatic wine serving technology, but traces of her roots can be found in a copper bar, long wood communal tables, and deep booths. Her amazing style shines through in the 1,400 bright green plaster medallions on her ceiling and walls—it’s a feature that is sure to impress. Together, the spaces charmingly illustrate two very different styles of Italian architecture. One takes a more, practical utilitarian approach, while the other is a bit more flashy and decorative.