Studio Modijefsky overhauls 119-year-old restaurant Bonnie in Amsterdam

Timber, tilework and plummy hues helped Studio Modijefsky foster a “warmly acquainted” ambiance inside this long-standing Amsterdam restaurant.

The restaurant, Bonnie, has been a landmark of Amsterdam’s Amstelveenseweg neighbourhood for the previous 119 years – underneath the outdated title of Cafe Bos – so was in determined want of an overhaul.

“This revived bar strikes the proper steadiness between quaint and warmly acquainted,” defined the domestically based mostly Studio Modijefsky, which got here up with the venue’s new title.

“Bonnie is a nod to the previous, celebrating all of the devoted bar house owners who served drinks and listened to tales for longer than they’ll bear in mind, making everybody really feel immediately comfy.”

Hints of the restaurant’s historical past are instantly seen as quickly as diners stroll into Bonnie. A brand new wood drinks bar that stands within the entryway has been carved with a linear sample that resembles the panelling of the outdated counter.

Following the custom of Bonnie’s former proprietor, this bar can have a particular cupboard devoted to Jenever, a gin-like, juniper-flavoured drink created in The Netherlands.

Different bottles of liquor are brazenly displayed inside boxy gold-framed cabinets which might be mounted on the rear wall. They sit towards a purple-tile arched panel, its form a nod to the massive vaulted home windows that now punctuate the restaurant’s facade.

Slabs of veiny grape-coloured marble function a backing to the drink faucets, and a row of plum leather-based bar stools have been positioned in entrance of the counter.

To emulate the tiled flooring of typical bistros, blue, white, black and pale-yellow tiles have been organized in a graphic sq. sample throughout the ground of Bonnie’s entrance and lower-ground degree eating space.

Amsterdam’s Karavaan restaurant has vibrant interiors by Studio Modijefsky

The higher half of the room’s partitions are wood-lined and inset with giant mirrored panels, whereas the decrease half is clad with glazed mustard-yellow tiles.

A deep-purple seating banquette runs alongside the again of the house.

The furnishings at Bonnie’s seem very conventional at first, however have been completed with a unusual twist.

For instance, a handful of the timber eating tables characteristic checkerboard-style counter tops. The exposed-bulb wall sconces have additionally been set on hexagonal bases.

A brief flight of steps leads as much as the restaurant’s mezzanine degree, which is supposed to have a barely extra cosy and intimate really feel.

Like downstairs, surfaces have largely been lined with grooved timber panels or mustard-yellow tiles, however the ceiling has been upholstered in wealthy burgundy cloth.

The square-pattern flooring seen within the entryway has additionally been reiterated at this degree utilizing wood blocks.

A choice of framed sketches and work left behind by the earlier proprietor have been held on one of many partitions as decor, together with a curved lighting fixture that, once more, is supposed to imitate the form of the restaurant’s home windows.

Bonnie joins a variety of hospitality tasks that Studio Modijefsky has accomplished within the buzzing metropolis of Amsterdam.

Others embody Karavaan, a restaurant that boasts a travel-themed inside, and Bar Botanique Cafe Tropique, which is crammed with inexperienced foliage.

Images is by Maarten Willemstein.