基诺餐厅（尼古拉耶夫）丨Ukraine

Kino

Location: Mykolaiv, Ukraine

area: 350 м²

year: 2025

photo: Andriy Bezuglov

Kino Restaurant in Mykolaiv is a postmodern place where two worlds collide: a vintage cinema and a relaxed Italian eatery. Its interior design was shaped by the building’s history – this very spot housed a cinema that first opened in the 1950s. The Italian influence comes from the restaurant’s concept, as the owners aimed to attract a broad audience by focusing on universally loved Mediterranean cuisine, with pizza as the star.

The restaurant spans two levels, with an upper floor on a mezzanine. In the main hall, original columns with decorative capitals remain from the Soviet-era cinema, their elegant forms contrasting with the unpolished concrete surfaces. A similar interplay of textures is ussed in the juxtaposition of white rectangular tiles and exposed brick walls, their chips and cracks adding character. The design’s imperfect charm continues on the floor, where broken tiles lead the eye to a striking large-scale portrait of Italian actress Sophia Loren.

At the heart of the central hall stands a large pizza oven, reinforcing the Italian theme. A distinctive vertical structure pierces through the mezzanine – above, it serves as a display for retro film posters, while below, it transforms into a bold industrial-style installation of water pipes above the bathroom sinks.

The cinematic aesthetic begins at the entrance and carries through the entire space. A rectangular canopy adorned with rows of round lights evokes the grand marquee signs of Broadway theaters, setting the tone for the experience inside.

Throughout the interior, movie-inspired details and vintage furnishings bring the theme to life. Planters mimic metal film reel cases, while flowerpot stands are designed to resemble tripods. Waiters’ stations take the form of classic film equipment cases, and integrated floor rails recall the tracks used for smooth camera movements on set. Heavy red velvet curtains serve as another nod to the world of cinema, as does the use of red ribbon barriers, reminiscent of those found in theaters.

The project’s color palette is centered around white, shades of gray, and bold red. A mix of tile, wood, aged brick, and rich textiles creates an eclectic, playful, and immersive atmosphere where the golden age of cinema meets the warmth of Italian hospitality.