Canadian design firm Guido Costantino Projects has designed the Occhiolino restaurant, which is near the city’s Little Italy neighborhood. It takes over what was once a mechanic’s shop set back from the street. The team at the studio wanted to protect this industrial background by retaining the warm feeling of the building when transforming the space into a casual restaurant for the owners Nick Manzone and Luke Donato.

It has arcaded walls, which are made from straight stacking grey bricks in the front of the original building. The team explains, “The light-filled space from Guido Costantino Projects is an embodiment of modest minimalism. There was intentionality and discipline in avoiding luxurious materials and fussy ornamentation, which felt wholly inappropriate to the essence of the building’s blue-collar form and history.”

Image Credit: Riley Snelling