PHARAOH WINE BAR RESTAURANT | ATHENS, GR

Clients: Manolis Papoutsakis, Fotis Vallatos, Perry Panagiotakopoulos, Dimitri Platanias

Architect in charge: Chrysokona Mavrou
Design Team: Vicky Katsarou, Marilina Metaxogeni, Kelly Mavromataki, Vasiliki Zacharia
Creative Director: Fotis Vallatos
Lighting design: Site Specific
Mechanical Engineer: ClimaTeam
Construction: Markos Marabotos + team
Photography : Giorgos Sfakianakis

Pharaoh is an audiophile wine bar-restaurant, located on the ground level of a 1960ies residential building in the center of Athens. It is dedicated to wood stove cooking, natural wines, and analog music, fusing a traditional Greek coffee house, a French brasserie, and a Japanese jazz bar.

The space should be authentically Athenian, and concurrently convey the cosmopolitan background of the owners. The place should feel as if it had always been there, but its design would have to be unique.

The design concept is derived from the natural process that food, wine and music are produced.

The building shell was kept rough, and the additional materials feel as raw as possible. The terrazzo floor, stone party walls, and concrete structure were preserved and highlighted, with the addition of steel, pigmented concrete, and marble tables.

On the ground floor, a 16m long Z-shaped bar in matt stainless steel runs along the kitchen and bar area. The DJ booth is placed in the center, emphasizing the important role of music in the space. On the party wall, a custom-made metal rack displays vinyl records, speakers and memorabilia. On the opposite side, a U-shaped sofa suggests intimacy. A mirror and linear lamps on the walls around it create an optical illusion of an extended space. A mezzanine accommodates wine tasting through a refectory table made of upcycled marble and a cellar on the back, visible through a glass partition.

Pharaoh is an Athenian wine bar-restaurant, full of global stories to tell.

Products used