Chica Bonita has been designed by Studio Gram to celebrate Mexican culture while avoiding the “over-the-top and over-saturated colour palette” that has become associated with the country.
Its stone archways, tin ceilings and parquet floors were the only features preserved. The venue had been host to a bike shop for the past 20 years but was almost entirely stripped back to make way for the new restaurant fit-out.
“The existing building fabric is protected under the buildings’ heritage listing,” the studio’s director, David Bickmore, told.
“For this reason, the stepped details and surfaces are all ‘positive’ elements, added layers if you like, that can be removed to return the space back to its original condition.”
Surfaces throughout the dining space are painted terracotta-orange to emulate the hue of the sand in Mexico’s deserts. Matching-coloured tiles have been used to clad the entrance steps to the restaurant and the service bar that runs around the open kitchen, which has a terrazzo-like countertop.
