Enoteca Nostrana, USA
Award-winning chef Cathy Whims and her partner David West opened their new wine bar, Enoteca Nostrana, next door to their renowned Italian restaurant Nostrana in Portland, Oregon. The bar was created by Rick Potestio in close collaboration with Director of Operations Nicholas Suhor.
All the lights, whether sitting atop the quartz bar, suspended from the ceilings or fixed to the walls are from the iconic Anglepoise Original 1227 range, featured in sizes from Mini to Giant and including a new Original 1227 Mini Ceramic Pendant Cluster. But, the glowing heart of Enoteca has to be their two-storey, glass fronted wine cellar, housing Enoteca and Nostrana’s impressive wine inventory at optimum temperature. Here an Original 1227 Giant Brass Floor Lamp stands guard.
The bold geometry, intense colour palette and heavy use of patterns takes its cue from the work of the Memphis Group, a Milan-based design collective that produced post-modern furniture and art pieces in the 1980s. Deep indigo sets the background atmosphere, layered with pops of colour like surf blue and pale pink. A 15-seat quartz bar is lined with Champagne cork-inspired bar stools designed by renowned Italian design studio Orlandini Radice. Striking, intricately patterned custom tile work by Portland-based architect Rick Potestio runs from the floor all the way up the faces of the bar and stairs.
“I’ve always dreamed of opening a wine bar to build off what we’ve created at Nostrana,” says chef/owner Cathy Whims. “The innate connection between Italian wine and food is so powerful. We’re also seeing a growing curiosity among our diners for interesting wines, so we knew now was the perfect time to expand with Enoteca. It gives us the chance to bring some amazing wines to the forefront and share them with our community.”
