9 Restaurants That Delight the Senses

Pantry, Toronto

To launch its newest outpost on King Street West in Toronto, Pantry turned to local firm Denizens of Design. With its four other restaurants situated in more residential neighborhoods, this “location is geared more to business and nightlife, so it needed to give Pantry the opportunity to grow and evolve into a new demographic,” says principal Dyonne Fashina. To achieve this, Fashina and her team reinterpreted Pantry’s signature basketweave floor tile, extending the motif throughout the space in unexpected ways—including inverting and magnifying the flooring pattern to the ceiling. Rather than building new elements from scratch, the team clad the existing long white beams with wood veneer, then added cross beams to complete the woven-ceiling effect. To further maintain familiarity, Pantry’s signature wood tones and color palette (black, white, and oak) remain, expanded with some deeper hues of streetcar red and bold blues. The weaving pattern appears once again in a red macramé wall piece, created by textile artist Diana Watters. “Everything about the space calls back to weaving, but it’s subtle,” Fashina says, “and strategically placed to make sure that throughout the journey within the space you’re getting that.”

Photo by Scott Norsworthy + Gil Tamin