This summer in Madrid, Platea, a food complex inside the grand environs of the former Carlos III cinema opened to the public, carving space for a bunch of high-end food peddlers out of a 6,000-square-foot theater that dates to the 1950s. Built by architect Luis Gutiérrez-Soto, the structure now houses gourmet food shops, bars, and restaurants like the avant-garde kitchen Arriba, which is helmed by Ramón Freixa, a chef with two Michelin stars. While certainly overhauled, the building's past (and architectural bones) remain.
For example, the centerpiece of the atrium, which has a sculptural wooden ceiling, is a large oxblood stage curtain in the former screen area. Interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán, who has worked on many boutique hotels in Spain as well as Miami's snazzy Delano Hotel, kept the midcentury feel of the building, and now diners can enjoy their tapas on red leather banquettes under Hollywood Regency-style lighting.
· Platea [Official site]
· Lázaro Rosa-Violán Contemporain Studio [Official site]
· Platea is Madrid's Latest Culinary Destination [Architectural Digest]
· All Eating Pretty posts [Curbed National]
· All Conversions posts [Curbed National]