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a'Nam eatery
Have you noticed that we always eat?
We eat at receptions, be it a wedding or a funeral. We eat cakes on birthdays and brunch on Sundays. Some of us eats turkeys on special occasions. Some only eats plants. We have choices, of course, but we're all eating.
With that thought in mind, the concept of a'Nam eatery was formed as a collaboration between the owner, who wanted to open a stripped-down, bare earth-esque presentation of northern Vietnamese cuisine, and the designer, who sought to start a conversation between then and now, to make piece with the country's colonized past.
A celebration of traditional Vietnamese cuisine, a 'Nam eatery is built within a French villa in Hanoi's Old Quarter, featuring an elegant combination of the East and West. For this project, doorways are opened and widened to connect previously separate rooms; the arches acting as a respectful nod to the native East Asian architecture. Existing cement tiles were damaged beyond repair, and replaced with a replica of locally- and historically-accurate patterns. Windows and doors are repaired and refinished with the pale teal of the city's French heritage.
On the second floor, a built-in brick-and-mortar bar is added with pendant light fixtures fastened inside coils of incense, which could be found virtually in all regions of Vietnam. The furniture selection was carefully considered with a definite affinity for East-meets-West aesthetics, while finishes are kept to an earthy tone. All to provide an intimate setting and to keep the focus on what matters most: the food on the table and the people surrounding it.