Tritalo, Sicily, Italy

In the gently crumbling streets of old Palermo, the European Calcutta, a city where nature and decay appear to have the upper hand, Tritalo is a paean to all things angular and eternal.

Studio DiDeA’s concoction of crisp geometries, white tiles laid out in a discrete herringbone pattern and rose gold-coloured iron fixtures that include countertops, foot-rail and a slender suspended light box, is characteristic of the Sicilian architectural simplicists’ course. Ornate 19th Century mouldings and ceiling frescoes, which feature pre-Raphaelite putti and Abbasid decorative motifs similar to those in the nearby Palatine Chapel, were revealed as later additions and stripped away. Exposed in places, they lend the space an opulence that reintroduces its sense of historicity and contrasts delightfully with its pared-down, minimalist present.

Light, bright and airy, Tritalo is a class act that looks more like an elegant Parisian patisserie than it does a burger bar, albeit gourmet.