The Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos studio, together with interior designer Ana Paula de Alba, seek to materialize the culinary and hospitality concept through architecture and interior design. The design is inspired by trends in street life and the materials found in the kitchens and street stalls
in Mexico City and Tokyo.
The main material in the design is stainless steel, which is used in the furniture, kitchen equipment, the three bars for diners and the shared high tables, as well as covering the perimeter walls. The ochre-colored non-slip epoxy floor conveys the sensation of entering a kitchen, providing color and life to the space.
Warm materials such as wood, which contrast with stainless steel, were used for certain elements such as the utilitarian furniture that divides the kitchen or the benches made of solid natural oak wood. Lighting also takes on importance in the project, using reflections of light and shadow and light screens to divide spaces.
NINYAS by Ignacio Urquiza and Ana Paula de Alba. Photograph by Rafael Gamo.
Project description by Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos, Ana Paula de Alba
Located in the Juárez neighborhood of Mexico City, NINYAS is a small restaurant that cooks rib eye tacos accompanied by sake.
The idea for this place was born from the love of a father and his son for serving those who visited them at home and extending that to more people. They loved to invite, serve delicious food and have a good time.
In their house there were several rooms dedicated to that, and they had in common that the tables were more like bars, always equipped with a griddle. Celebrations were organized around them. There, the hosts and their friends sought to perfect their famous rib eye taco with flour tortilla.
Turning that experience into a restaurant was a dream that was present from the beginning; it was part of the family conversation. After many years, the project materialized when the same group of friends who tried the recipe and the experience got together to make it a reality.
This is the story that gave rise to the design of a space. A project that aims to materialize the culinary and hospitality concept through architecture and interior design, in this case, through the intervention of a 100-square-meter premises located on the ground floor of a building from the 1950s. The objective: to reflect the two culinary traditions that give it life, keeping in mind its own origin.
NINYAS merges Mexico and Japan: two very different cultures that, however, show similarities in some customs and gastronomy. To find and embody the necessary elements in the project, trends present in Mexico City and Tokyo, in street life and in the materials found in the surroundings of kitchens and street stalls were analyzed.
For example, the sushi bars and teppanyaki grills, made with reflective materials, are reminiscent of Mexican fast food restaurants, or taco shops and their high tables and bars. Warm materials such as wood were also considered, and we were very struck by the Japanese lacquers, the Mexican talavera and its shine, reflections and colours, as well as the lighting: reflections of light and shadow, and the mullions or light screens to divide the spaces.
To simplify the intervention, a predominant material was used: stainless steel, which is cold and reflective. The perimeter walls were covered with 1 x 3 metre panels and the kitchen furniture and equipment were also designed, as well as the three diner bars, high and shared tables, which make up the main area.
The feeling when entering the restaurant is like that of arriving in a kitchen, which is reinforced by the ochre-coloured non-slip epoxy floor. Paradoxically, the neutral and cold finish is the element that fills the space with colour and life, as it reflects, in a diffuse way, each of the users and everything that happens inside.
To accompany the stainless steel, two elements of opposite and contrasting materiality coexist in the project.
The first is the utilitarian furniture that divides the kitchen from where the diners sit, without isolating it. The furniture is used to store dishes, cutlery, bottles and utensils.
The second element is the benches designed specifically for this project. Made of solid natural oak wood and with a round base, they stand out from the rest of the elements and soften the spatial relationship in the whole. The stainless steel footrests integrate them directly with the proposal, as well as allowing the user to sit comfortably.
A stainless steel bridge connects the stairs to the mezzanine, where the upper part of the partition cabinet is transformed to store the sake cellar.
Finally, the façade, made up of six pivoting and folding glass panels, offers multiple options for comfort and connection between the exterior and the interior. Physically and visually, this large door integrates the living room with the vegetation and pedestrians.
