In transforming the ground floor and basement of a Grade II-listed Victorian corner block in London’s Pimlico neighbourhood into Omar’s Place, a modern Mediterranean restaurant, interiors studio Sella Concept (with help from architecture consultancy Wilson Holloway) took the sun as inspiration and mood-board.
The result is a light-washed, voluminous space that’s tracked by radial lines and circular motifs against a backdrop of cool terracotta walls, scalloped timber slats and earthy rusty hued banquettes, and furnished almost transparently with streamlined Carl Hansen chairs and asymmetrical brass pendant lamps that call to mind solar phases.
It’s a subtle but effective setting for executive chef Vicente Fortea who has reimagined his grandmother’s favourite recipes with Pálamos prawns, Andaluçian jamon iberico and bresaola. Standout dishes include an escalibada which Fortea reworks with anchovy crackers topped with red pepper, smoked sardine and a purée of aubergine and red peppers, and an otherworldly home-made almond speckled sobrasada glazed with honey.
