Toronto’s little Italy district is surprising us with a brand new hangout space, which has to offer to its visitors coffee, few drinks and some tasty delights in an extraordinary surrounding. The exquisite Bar Raval Toronto by Partisans acts as a surreal and sensational food and design stage for chef Grant van Gameren and renowned mixologist Mike Webster to showcase their skills and wow their customers.
Named after ‘el raval’, a once seedy district in the catalan capital, crafted from sculpted mahogany, the bar transports you into an entirely different world that is draped in wood and metal, and brings together the compositional beauty of the contemporary world with the eclectic charm of Spanish Art Nouveau.
Computer-driven patterns were mimicked using wood that seems to twist, turn and flow, shaping a backdrop that comes alive thanks to brilliant lighting. Spread across 200 square meters, the various wooden pieces shape the entire interior:
“The design developed out of a connection between the formal histories of art nouveau, the plethora of cured slabs of meat, and the anatomy of the chefs themselves: a tattooed muscle bound group of intellectuals”, explains Partisans.”our design is a three dimensional tattoo manifest in pure CNC’d mahogany.”
The sculpted mahogany wood uses the most dynamic, state of the art technologies and systems in the industry, creating a fluid stage for some of Canada’s best culinary and mixology masters to perform their art.The metallic lingerie that shrouds the windows, giving the passer-by only a flirtation with what lies within, is a metaphor for all the mystery that Toronto’s food and design have to offer.
”Bar raval will be as much an art piece as a restaurant, the architects we hired are the only people in Canada and perhaps the world capable of achieving my vision for one of the greatest bars in the world”, furthered Grant Van Gameren, chef and owner of bar raval.
For those who have braved the daily lineups to get into the bar, they describe feeling as though they’ve exited Toronto and entered an entirely different world of food and design.
