Project Name
Suzi TrosPosted in
Design, Food Design / Gastronomy, Interior DesignLocation
Completed
June 2019Detailed Information | |||||
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Project Name | Suzi Tros | Posted in | Design, Food Design / Gastronomy, Interior Design | Location |
18 Hillgate St London
W8 7SR |
Completed | June 2019 |
Suzi Tros unfolds across two floors, with an upstairs light-filled, 32-seat dining room featuring a 5-seater kitchen counter, and a cosy cocktail bar on the ground floor serving a menu of drinks and nibbles. Underpinned by a palette of natural materials and earthy colours, the dining room subtly combines a traditional Greek vibe with a French bistro elegance, not unlike Rena Vlahopoulou in “The Parisienne” where she plays a Greek seamstress who has to pretend to be a Parisian couture fashion designer.
Timber ceiling beams and decorative floor tiling echo the folkloric interiors of age-old Greek restaurants while the sumptuous leather banquettes, elegant bentwood chairs and brass light fittings imbue the space with a Parisian ambience. The same hybrid aesthetic has been applied to the bar downstairs, where a lower ceiling height coupled with dark blue walls make for a more intimate space. Clad in wooden slats and featuring a backdrop of glazed grey tiles, the bar, which serves cocktails using lesser-known Greek spirits such as Mastiha and Tsipouro, would feel right at home in a 1960s Greek film.
Drawing from the breadth of Northern Greek cuisine, and using only fresh and seasonal ingredients, Head Chef John Skotidas has created a menu of small dishes that are updated on a daily basis depending on the day’s market deliveries. Much of the fun in dining at Suzi Tros comes from witnessing the cooking process. Raw options such as Prawn Tartare and Sea Urchin are prepared in front of guests while dishes like Whole Grilled Calamari are cooked on the open charcoal grill behind the kitchen counter. Meanwhile, vegetarian options such as Smoked Aubergine with Tahini & Honey, Artichoke Hearts, and stuffed Courgette Flowers Gemista taste as delicious as they sound. But perhaps the dish that best encapsulates both the bistro’s cross-cultural sensibility and Rena Vlahopoulou’s chameleon film character is Armenonville, an ice-cream-based dessert that traces its origins back to France – it takes its name from Pavillon d'Armenonville at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris – but has since become a speciality found in patisseries all over Thessaloniki and northern Greece. So no matter how full you are, you won’t be able to say no to a dessert like this which is exactly what Suzi Tros is all about.