Ristorante Torre — Milan, Italy

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View of the interior of the restaurant with tables covered in a white tablecloth, blue chairs, and wood details on the floor and walls, with a view over the skyline of the city.
(Image credit: TBC)

Finally, its complete. After years of construction, the last piece of the puzzle at Fondazione Prada’s OMA-designed contemporary art compound fits into place with the launch of Ristorante Torre on the sixth floor.

Visitors are warmly greeted, quite literally, by Italian master Lucio Fontana, whose 1949 glazed ceramic Cappa per caminetto (fireplace hood) sits pride of place amongst Soviet armchairs and Eero Saarinen Tulip tables. Along the north wall, floor-to-ceiling windows and a 125 sqm terrace frame sweeping views towards the city centre. While opposite, richly textured walnut panels and earthy hemp textiles allow a touch of intimacy within the tower’s otherwise sharply modern architecture.

Jewels from Fondazione Prada’s legendary art collection — paintings and sculptures by Goshka Macuga, Jeff Koons and John Wesley — line the walls alongside artist-designed dinner plates created for the restaurant by John Baldessari, Thomas Demand, Mariko Mori and others.

Safe in a good home and back in use are furnishings from Phillip Johnson’s iconic Four Seasons Restaurant in New York. Cantilevered Brno Chairs and custom banquettes were scooped up by Fondazione Prada when the modernist marvel, designed in 1959, was unceremoniously dismantled and auctioned off in 2016. Meanwhile, Saarinen Executive chairs parked at wooden tables account for the remaining 84 seats.

Chef Fabio Cucchelli has sourced recipes from a number of Italian regions, but with an added twist. For the next year, a rotating cast of under-30 chefs from home and abroad will take up two-week posts in the kitchen, shaking up the menu with an injection of youth.

View of the interior of the restaurant with tables covered in a white tablecloth, blue chairs, and wood details on the floor and walls, with a view over the skyline of the city at night.

(Image credit: TBC)

View of the restaurant bar with a view over the skyline of the city at night.

(Image credit: TBC)

View of the interior of the restaurant, with two corner tables, with the sun coming through the windows.

(Image credit: TBC)

View of the terrace of the restaurant with red tables and chairs, with a skyline view of the city, at night.

(Image credit: TBC)

View of the interior of the restaurant with tables covered in a white tablecloth and blue chairs, next to a bar, with a fireplace in the distance.

(Image credit: TBC)

ADDRESS

Via Lorenzini 14

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Laura May Todd

Laura May Todd, Wallpaper's Milan Editor, based in the city, is a Canadian-born journalist covering design, architecture and style. She regularly contributes to a range of international publications, including T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Azure and Sight Unseen, and is about to publish a book on Italian interiors.