Small, bright and functional. 55 square meters very well used in the heart of Beirut fully yielded, to enjoy the meat and its best cuts. Go ahead carnivores.

For his third gastronomic adventure, Karim Arakji bet to extol this basic delicacy, defined by its origin and elaboration. This idea, as simple as raising the raw material and devoting itself to the product, largely determined the design of the restaurant Skirt. The kitchen in sight and the exhibition of the product in chambers with transparent glass door invite the diners to enjoy the process of elaboration, from the choice of the product to the cooking.

In turn, the dimensions of the room also conditioned the design of the space. The challenge was not simple. The interior designers faced the task of including a complete kitchen with a charcoal grill, a dining room for 27 people, several wine bars, a toilet and a bathroom, a storage room and a bar. “In this case, betting on an open kitchen was not so much a feature of design as a necessity,” says Michèle Chaya of the design studio Maria Group. The dining area is located in the central area of ​​the restaurant, between the kitchen and the bar. “Diners can choose to look at the street or the kitchen show,” he says.

The client’s requirements, on the other hand, were concise. An elegant and discreet restaurant with space also for informal lunches at the bar. Hence the need to have a bar area and stools. “We made an analogy between what the restaurant serves – top quality meat cooked to perfection – and how space is articulated,” says the interior designer. In this process they selected untreated materials “used in their purest form” along with antique furniture to add “soul and history” to the place.

A long, light-colored communal table occupies the central space of the restaurant. For practical reasons, the study decided to divide the table in two to facilitate the work of the waiters. On the table, two sculptural lamps from the 1970s project an ambient light and dim. The scene is completed with a careful selection of vintage chairs found in galleries in Holland and Germany.

As a whole, the study has paid particular attention to the choice of materials. The walnut floor adds warmth while the ends of the walls are covered with terrazzo. Spock Design signs the steel and leather hangers hanging from the wall. Leather has also been used in the curtain that separates the bathing area and deliberately remembers the plastic curtains of traditional meat markets.