A long view through SaltoBar in Paris, from sunlit window tables towards a cushioned banquette edged in azulejos. A tiled panel of three hanging fish adorns a brick pier. Beside it, a slender metal balustrade bristles with white candles beneath a vivid orange pendant. The mirror-like ceiling doubles the room's warm, amber glow.

At SaltoBar in Paris, Diego Alary's Iberian Cooking Finds Its Architectural Counterpart

Words by Yatzer

11 Rue Camille Crespin du Gast, Paris, France

Since appearing on Top Chef in 2020, Diego Alary has become one of France's most recognisable digital chefs, his rapid-fire recipe videos attracting millions of followers across social media. With SaltoBar, his first restaurant in Paris, created in partnership with seasoned restaurateur Christophe Juville, Alary’s online universe finally gains a physical address. Designed by architecture and design studio PANELA, the restaurant translates the directness and apparent simplicity of his cooking into an equally straightforward interior, where humble materials and familiar decorative elements are elevated through precise execution.

Occupying a post-Haussmannian building in the 11th arrondissement, the restaurant retains much of the space’s existing architectural fabric. Rather than overwrite its character, PANELA exposed the brickwork, concrete pillars and weathered metal columns, setting their rough surfaces against a gleaming stainless-steel open kitchen, mirrors and polished cement floors. This interplay between raw and refined gives the interior its edge without compromising its unpretentious sensibility.

That balance extends to the furnishings. Banquettes assembled from concrete blocks and varnished MDF transform inexpensive construction materials through carefully considered detailing, while simple vintage chairs and tables introduce the easy-going familiarity of a neighbourhood restaurant. PANELA describes its approach as one of “minimal intervention”, favouring a small number of purposeful elements over stylistic gestures.

A timber table set for dinner nestles against the base of a rugged brick pillar at SaltoBar in Paris. A glass sconce catches the light on the weathered masonry. To the left, tiers of dripping candles on a black metal screen glow against raw concrete. Sheer curtains diffuse the daylight behind.

Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

Round marble tables lead the eye through SaltoBar in Paris towards a brick pier hung with a tiled panel of three hanging fish. A black metal railing crowded with candles and a scarlet pendant separates the dining room from the bar. There, turned-pine stools line a steel counter beneath a pleated cream valance.

Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

  • Sheer curtains filter the daylight along the window tables at SaltoBar in Paris, casting a soft, peachy glow over white marble tops. Curved plywood chairs in warm wood tones sit beside steel napkin dispensers with an engraved diamond motif. Wine glasses etched with the SaltoBar name complete the table settings.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

  • A timber table set for dinner nestles against the base of a rugged brick pillar at SaltoBar in Paris. A glass sconce catches the light on the weathered masonry. To the left, tiers of dripping candles on a black metal screen glow against raw concrete. Sheer curtains diffuse the daylight behind.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

  • The bar at SaltoBar in Paris after dark, where turned-pine ladder-back stools pull up to a brushed stainless-steel counter dotted with candles. Above, a ruffled fabric valance hangs over opal globe lights. Vintage hi-fi components rest on wall shelves, and a wood-cased speaker is mounted on a textured concrete pillar.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

Candles in varying states of meltdown line a dark metal balustrade at SaltoBar in Paris. Wax pools and drips over the slender uprights. Behind, a tiled panel of three hanging fish sits on red-brown brickwork, while a glossy red pendant and a vintage wood-cased speaker add retro colour against rough plaster and gathered linen.

Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

The most expressive of these are the Portuguese azulejos, sourced by the studio as a nod to Alary’s family roots. Deployed sparingly, the blue-and-white tiles crop up almost like found artefacts, forming a slender frieze above the banquettes, appearing as individual pictorial compositions on exposed masonry and even embedded into the cement floor. Behind the open kitchen they revert to their more familiar role as a backsplash, their ornamental motifs playfully countering the industrial precision of stainless-steel counters and shelving. After dark, candles integrated into walls and furniture animate these disparate textures, their flames reflected across glazed tiles and metallic surfaces.

  • A tiled portrait of an 18th-century lady in a ruffled gown emerges from the darkness at SaltoBar in Paris, lit by two candles fixed to its base. Nearby, a thick glass wall light casts an amber halo onto deep brown walls. Beside it rises a cast-iron column, its paint worn to a mottled patina.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

  • A frieze of Portuguese tiles with scrolling foliate motifs divides MDF-panelled seating from a mirrored upper wall at SaltoBar in Paris. The mirror reflects draped curtains and a sliver of brickwork. A double-disc pendant glows above plump linen cushions and marble tables laid with glassware and a water carafe.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

  • A hand-painted azulejo panel of a flower-filled urn hangs on a pitted concrete pillar at SaltoBar in Paris. A single candle is mounted directly onto its surface, and the flame warms the cobalt blooms. In the shadowy background, the kitchen's stainless-steel fittings and mottled stone wall recede into soft focus.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

The open kitchen and bar at SaltoBar in Paris, where a gathered cream fabric valance softens a line of opal globe lights and suspended wine glasses. Below, a backsplash of intricately patterned blue-and-white azulejos meets stainless-steel counters, polished beer taps and a charcoal oven. Pine ladder-back stools line the brushed-steel bar.

Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

  • An exposed brick pier, its surface flecked with old plaster, divides the dining room at SaltoBar in Paris. A glass globe sconce glows on the brickwork. To one side, candle-lined metal shelving and a red ribbed pendant frame the bar. To the other, marble tables line a glazed frontage opening onto greenery.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

  • Pine ladder-back stools with carved rails and turned legs pull up to the brushed-steel bar at SaltoBar in Paris. Behind them, chrome beer taps and stubby candles stand against a rough rubblestone wall. Rows of inverted wine glasses hang from racks overhead, catching the glow of spherical lamps.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

  • A vertical perspective of the SaltoBar dining room in Paris, crowned by a steel ceiling fan against a glossy copper-brown ceiling. Marble-topped tables lead the eye past raw concrete and brick piers to a banquette trimmed with a blue-and-white tile frieze. A fish-motif azulejo panel and candlelit railing punctuate the right.

    Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

Alary applies a similarly unfussy approach to SaltoBar's Iberian menu, built around sharing. Pan con tomate crowned with Cantabrian anchovies, gildas and honey-glazed sobrassada fritters give way to wood-fired tellines and crisp suckling pig's ear with romesco, while larger plates include arroz con pollo a la llauna and parpatana, the prized collar cut of bluefin tuna, grilled over embers with pil-pil sauce. Much of it passes through fire, and the ingredients reflect the time Alary spent meeting producers across the peninsula.

In that sense, SaltoBar feels like a natural extension of the cooking that made Alary a social-media phenomenon. His quick, clear recipes transform relatively straightforward ingredients through confident technique and precise execution; PANELA has done much the same with a restrained palette of humble materials. What existed on screen as an appealingly direct approach to food has now found its architectural expression.

A frieze of Portuguese tiles with scrolling foliate motifs divides MDF-panelled seating from a mirrored upper wall at SaltoBar in Paris. The mirror reflects draped curtains and a sliver of brickwork. A double-disc pendant glows above plump linen cushions and marble tables laid with glassware and a water carafe.

Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

A dining corner at SaltoBar in Paris, where a weathered cast-iron column stands against chocolate-brown panelled walls and velvet-curtained alcoves. Beneath a lacquered ceiling and a steel ceiling fan, black-backed vintage chairs with honey-toned frames gather around marble tables. A frieze of blue-and-white azulejos crowns an MDF-panelled banquette.

Photography by Mathilde Hiley.

With its glazed frontage fully open, SaltoBar in Paris spills towards the pavement between two weathered cast-iron columns. Marble tables and warm wooden chairs sit on a mosaic-tiled threshold. Beyond them, the steel bar, pleated valance and glowing globe lights stand against a textured rubblestone wall.

Photography by Mathilde Hiley.