Restaurant bathrooms are no longer a design afterthought – an inconvenient necessity. They are carefully considered features of most new restaurants extending the design detail and aesthetic of the dining room to the bathroom area.
Anh & Chi, Vancouver
Voted Canada’s best restaurant bathroom By Chatelaine magazine, Vancouver’s own Anh & Chi ‘haute’ Vietnamese restaurant gets our first mention too. The aesthetic marries the bold, leafy tropical decor reminiscent of a tiki lounge with mid-century and art deco gold accents. Warm, nutty, intricately-patterned wood doors refine and warm the space beautifully.
Oretta, Toronto
King St. West’s gorgeous Oretta houses some of the city’s most spectacular restrooms. Art-deco inspired walls and floors, arched ceilings and Liv-flavoured pink and gold wall installations make for a spectacular space in general and then, a dramatic, gold staircase leads you upstairs, to a long hallway of inky blue doors that each open to a private washroom – either white and gold or black and gold colour-themed. The bathrooms feature beautifully patterned marble-tiled walls, globe lighting and the most perfect, flattering oval mirrors.
BLVD, Chicago
Evoking 1950s Hollywood glamour, BLVD’s sumptuous interiors make customers feel like they are living their best Fitzgeraldian lives. Renowned restaurant designer, Karen Herold of Studio K, designed a place that oozes Sunset Blvd swank in every corner including the bathrooms – clean lines, geometrics shapes, opulent fixtures, sexy curves etc. (the banner photo in this post).
Smith & Mills, New York City
This very cool, little bar/restaurant located in an old Carriage house in Tribeca seems inspired by the interiors of Gringott’s Bank and the bathrooms are an exquisite tribute to a sort of steam-punk New York aesthetic of yesteryear. Reconstructed from a 1900s elevator and featuring an antique rail car sink, the vintage details are intricate, fascinating, and not to be missed.
Sketch, Londo
Where less is not more…where more is more, the two Michelin-starred restaurant in Mayfair’s London is an exercise in extra. The creation of restaurateur Mourad Mazouz and celebrated chef Pierre Gagnaire, this restaurant is exquisite in its eclecticism which extends through to the bathrooms. The whimsical, colourful forest theme of one of the dining rooms is contrasted with the futuristic, 2001 Space Odyssey feel of the loos. Tall white space pods hold self-contained toilets that stand tall beneath a candy-coloured grid of ceiling lights.
FUN FACT: The Gallery at Sketch London is the pink dining room that launched the pink design trend in restaurant design.
