Restaurant Milos - New York

The Milos restaurant is home of the finest Greek cuisine in Manhattan and so for the last 25 years, something unprecedent in this city. With longevity comes new challenges, especially in a competitive environment as New York.

If there was a challenge it was how to do more with the restaurant. So came the time when the building owner offered Milos the 10,000 square foot basement, formerly unused, as an opportunity to expand its private dining options. It was then decided to expand and renovate the existing venue, so popular that it had to be achieved without any temporary closure. A particular challenge, since a new larger kitchen was to be designed below the existing one, implying a very complex “ballet” of logistics during the service hours, running from noon till late night...

Furthermore, the new space at the basement of the restaurant had to propose a contemporary aesthetic that would finetuned itself to the existing décor of the main floor, keeping some key iconic components of the space. Greece is about simplicity in its architecture. The use of stone, concrete and plaster is extensive. forming the palette of materials used throughout the Cyclades. Wood is also used regularly for structure and millwork, as well as pergolas and window screens. The constant use of these material creates homogeneity and specificity that makes the architecture of the islands so powerful and ageless. These elements constituted a sort of “lexicon” for our intervention, although they were reinterpreted to insert themselves in the context of the space, moving away any “folkloric” approach.

In a way, the intent was not to create a faux-replica of this prestigious landscape but rather a contemporary interpretation of it. By this, the customers recall the simplicity of the Greek experience and the space acts as a “stage set” for the cuisine, the essential identity of the place. The plan is designed to create specific focal points in all areas of the restaurant that are link to food, emphasizing what the chef-owner stands for: simplicity and clarity of the taste of Greek cuisine. White Penthelikon marble, used to built the Parthenon in Athens, is used extensively on most floors and counters and staircases, acting as a catalyst of light in the space. At the basement level, the stairs have a double status of a sophisticated reference point and lightwell, while in contrast the rest of the space is left raw.

Still in the basement, additional moving partitions creates different spatial configurations to facilitate the offering of private dining according to the needs of the customers. The space can be used either by a sole party or different groups, while the central space acts as a common ground for all, housed by a bar and a display wine cellar. As part of the deal with the landlord, Milos leased an area adjoining the restaurant, a former flower shop that could be linked to the new kitchen designed in the basement. A
850-square-foot space was created under a take away venue, a Mediterranean marketplace selling the restaurant’s core Greek products such as olive oil, sea salt, and honey, as well as prepared foods. The space was designed to benefit the high ceiling by creating a steel service platform at mid height to act as a open storage space while the main floor houses the service counter in Khios marble. Again here, the juxtaposition of material rawness and sophistication acts as a echo on how this restaurant has created his own very specific identity in terms of food offering.