El Camino – Tapas Restaurant

Motto: "The most important element of the interior is the food itself."

The investor's wish was to create an authentic atmosphere of traditional Spanish tapas bars. However, it was not to be an explicit copy-replica of the Iberian original but rather a metaphor for the contemporary Prague gastronomic scene. El camino means "the way" in Spanish. The way is also the story of the investor, who has experienced his culinary journey over the last 20 years not only in Spain. The idea of our design was not to adopt traditional and proven visual elements such as azujellos tiles, bull decorations from corrida, or advertising posters for Madrid vermuth. We wanted to create a place with an atmosphere that would itself form a framework—a scene for the main protagonist—and that is gastronomy… Spanish and contemporary gastronomy that interprets traditional dishes in a modern way, not only in flavors but also in the presentation on the plate. The interior is intentionally designed so that the color palette of the dishes on the plate is not overshadowed but instead complemented by its subtle and muted background. To achieve a truly scenic atmosphere, spotlights are used to illuminate only the tabletops. The furniture is designed to enhance the interior concept with darker shades and creates storage space for the restaurant operation. In the front area, it is made from black-dyed MDF, in the adjoining part from raw dyed MDF. The passage serves not only as a corridor with food service but also continues the space into a small lounge and further to the outdoor garden—patio, which functions as an outdoor interior in the summer months. The entrance to the restaurant is separated by an oak screen and a glass wine cabinet. On the opposite side of the restaurant is the so-called trillo – an oak board with sharp stones, which is a traditional Spanish tool used for scraping ears when making flour. The table and bar tops were made by a carpenter directly in Spain from 150-year-old oak wood from wine barrels. The lighting design is complemented by three central fixtures with indirect lighting, custom-made from the so-called paellera pan, which is used in the cooking of the traditional rice dish – paella. The standard furniture is selected from products by TON – the Ginger armchair (upholstered, leather) and the Stockholm bar stool. The floor is made of oak planks.

Technically, this was a complete reconstruction of the premises of the former establishment – there was an exchange of technical installations, including the implementation of a new gastro operation in the form of an open kitchen so that guests could see the chefs at work directly under their hands.

The bar counter is designed as a large island without visible technologies so that it can serve for drink service but also as a presentation table during wine or jamon tasting. It is worth noting the detail of recessing a chilled stainless steel apero container for wine bottles directly into the oak bar top, so that neither wine bottles nor containers with ice for chilling Spanish sparkling wine cava need to be placed on it.