Salobie Restaurant

A modern Georgian cuisine restaurant is located in the central Chernihiv in the so-called “stalinka” building erected in 1953. The venue occupies the first floor and the basement in the four-story building.

The main accents of the big hall on the first floor are massive seven-tiered chandeliers. They are made out of steel circles and ceramic light domes that resemble mugs or bells or even rams’ horns. Kvevri, large ceramic vessels used for the traditional Georgian wine storage, were the inspiration for those forms. Similar domes make an impressive ceiling installation in the hall with the bar counter. All those elements are custom made in the small craftsmanship workshop located in the village in Chernihiv region.

The wall in the hall with the bar counter is encrusted with a large portrait of a pensive-eyed man. That is the portrait of the Georgian Soso, who was in charge of a food store that was located in the very same space in the 1950s. The food store occupied the first floor, and in the basement worked the hidden gambling club where party officials of the city were gathering to play poker. Soso was a legendary character, so we decided to pay him honor with this portrait. It looks old because of the unique drawing technique.

The second floor of the restaurant is a mezzanine floor located above a part of the first floor. The stairs that lead there are covered from the outside by terracotta ceramic tile glued to the glass surface. It makes the effect of glossy gaps instead of joints between the tiles.

The wine cabinet with glass walls is located vertically on the first and the second restaurant’s floors between columns. It resembles an art installation where hundreds of wine bottles exhibit under the glass.

We kept the design of the restaurant in one terracotta color palette. The primary material is clay. You can see that in the exposed brick walls, ceramic tiles on the floor and the stairs, lamps, decorative ceiling installation, and some tableware. Leather couches upholstery make the brown shade pop. Armchairs with light tactile covering were made by our design and derived from sheep in the pasture.

– In Salobie’s interior the element of earth is dominating. The earth as the texture and also as the vine terroir. We were encouraged by its color palette, warmth, and generosity. There are clay tandoor ovens and kvevri vessels in gastronomic Georgian culture. We rethought such traditional forms and built the modern vision upon them – co-founder and art director of YOD Group Dmytro Bonesko said.

There is a glazed oval-shaped hole on the floor of the first floor. Through it, you can spy on what is going on in the “Vinyl Bar” on the basement floor.

The basement space is like a venue inside a venue. It got its name “Vinyl Bar” because of the turntable that stands next to the bar and the wall installation of bottles with alcoholic drinks. There you can smoke some hookah, and in the evening, they set a fog machine to create a chamber-like vibe in the bar.

Design: YOD Group
Photography: Igor Karpenko