Mexico City’s Marne Café serves up a side order of brutalism

(Image credit: Photograph by Fabian Martinez)

Concrete and steel have been a delicious combination when it comes to café and restaurant interior design this year (as seen, for starters, at Side A in San Francisco, Noisy Oyster in London and Call Me Ten in New Delhi). Bringing its own nuances to the genre in Mexico City’s hip Roma neighbourhood is the all-day Marne Café – an extension of the namesake bakery, also located in the area.

Marne Café, Mexico City

Dreamt up by the local Formant Studio, the 130 sq m venue delivers a medley of steel accents, dark wood and unfinished textures, creating a visual rhythm between polished and raw, warm and cold, exposed and concealed. ‘The project is a celebration of timeless design with a contemporary approach,’ explain Alejandro Valencia and Verónica Sojo, architects at Formant Studio.

While it would be easy to sum up Marne Café as brutalist or industrial for its materials and finishes, every furnishing found here is of praiseworthy bespoke design, while details are of exceptional character. ‘The predominantly neutral atmosphere is enlivened by colour accents that interact with the upholstery and contemporary art adorning the walls,’ say Valencia and Sojo.

Expressive and functional forms define the two dedicated areas that make up the venue. Guests enter straight into the café-restaurant, punctuated by a counter overlooking director-style chairs in steel and leather alongside marble-topped tables. Meanwhile, the wine bar is found at the back, where banquettes, sturdy wooden chairs and tables sit under the soft flow of a round paper lampshade. Speakers suspended from the ceiling and metal-framed photographs further enhance the atmosphere.

Rotating breakfast, lunch and dinner menus are paired with an extensive wine and cocktail list. Marne Café specialises in bread in all its forms, from the perfectly laminated croissant served alongside a scrambled egg topped with soy sauce-marinated salmon roe and crème fraîche, to hogaza de masa madre (sourdough loaf) accompanied by a scrumptious crab cake.

Marne Café is located at Av Sonora 92, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Mexico City, Mexico.

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Sofia de la Cruz is the Travel Editor at Wallpaper*. A self-declared flâneuse, she feels most inspired when taking the role of a cultural observer – chronicling the essence of cities and remote corners through their nuances, rituals, and people. Her work lives at the intersection of art, design, and culture, often shaped by conversations with the photographers who capture these worlds through their lens.