The Toklas restaurant recently opened in London just off The Strand in a 1970s brutalist building. Toklas is a versatile dining experience featuring a restaurant, bar, bakery, and grocery shop. The new brutalist-informed restaurant is the brainchild of Frieze magazine and art fairs founders Amanda Shar[ and Matthew Slotover.
The restaurant nods to the love of food documented in writer Alice B Toklas' eponymous cookbook. Boasting an elegant Mediterranean menu, the restaurant offers primarily fish and plant-based meals. The space's design details boast a vintage flare in accordance with its brutalist exterior. The designers used reclaimed parquet floors, reclaimed iroko tables and countertops, and Borge Mogensen chairs to create a laid-back yet sophisticated design scheme throughout.
Brutalist Restaurant Spaces
Frieze Founders Opened the Toklas Restaurant Informed by Brutalism
Trend Themes
1. Brutalist-inspired Interior Design - There's an opportunity for interior designers to incorporate the rough textures, raw materials, and functionality of brutalism into restaurant spaces.
2. Multi-purpose Dining Establishments - Restaurateurs can offer customers a more versatile dining experience by including a bar, bakery, and grocery shop within the same establishment.
3. Plant-based and Fish-focused Menus - As plant-based and seafood diets grow in popularity, there's a market opportunity for restaurants to focus on these types of meals.
Industry Implications
1. Interior Design - Interior designers can capitalize on the trend of brutalist-inspired design elements in restaurant spaces.
2. Food Service - Restaurateurs can embrace the trend of offering multiple dining experiences under one roof and plant-based and seafood-focused menus.
3. Sustainable Practices - Restaurants can attract eco-conscious customers by using reclaimed materials and focusing on sustainability in their menu offerings.