LA Puglia Restaurant & Bakery

1621 Wilshire Boulevard

Santa Monica, California

The client is a celebrated Pugliese restaurateur who dreamed of opening a restaurant in Los Angeles that provides an Authentic Southern Italian Food Experience.

The task was to transform the existing dark, middle storefront space into a bright airy environment that recalls the atmosphere of her home region – Puglia, Italy.

On the roof, a line of clerestory windows was added to act as a light monitor, bringing soft northern light into the back of the dining room.

The storefront was moved back from the sidewalk, to create a gracious entry sequence and allow for layers of Mediterranean inspired vegetation to buffer the dining room from busy Wilshire Boulevard.

A simple palette of wood, steel, concrete, and sand colored plaster together with the vintage furniture and fixtures shipped from Italy, combine to invoke the aesthetic of the Pugliese region.

Simple, fresh, light, and harmonious.