The historic working class neighborhood of Clapham is now an up-and-coming enclave of London. It recently welcomed newcomer Mommi, a Japanese-Latin restaurant with interior and food inspired by Miami and Venice Beach, California as well as the colors, music, and flavors of South America. The designer, Charles Doell of Oakland, California-based Mister Important Design, describes the aesthetic as “a bit of a mashup of roadhouse, traditional luxury, and bar room funk.” The 3,200-square-foot restaurant’s combination of urban and elegant street style is rooted in the regions the cuisine draws upon—with art being one of the most important facets of the design.
“An essential element of the Mommi aesthetic is appreciation of street art, which gave us the opportunity to find and commission artists to collaborate,” says Doell, who reached out to Melbourne-based street artist RONE and British fashion photographer-collagist Ben Watts to create work for the interiors.
RONE is an internationally known muralist famous for his sumptuous street paintings of glamorous women. The artist painted one of his signature portraits in the front bar over brick and a background of torn street posters. Watts, known for his up close and personal fashion photography, provided Mommi with images for a large-scale work that spans all of the walls in the back room, where photos of hardcore street culture from Los Angeles, Miami, and London with the photographer’s signature text superimposed are applied directly to the walls throughout as one continuous collage.
Lacking back-of-house space, the venue’s kitchen is completely exposed, surrounded by a low counter for diners, which appears again as the bar in the adjacent lower room, unifying the two-level space. Doell chose reclaimed oak for the flooring, while the booth and bar alley features custom lighting and furniture by Mister Important Design. The bathrooms also have a distinct urban touch, with graffiti signage, brightly colored glazed brick, vintage trough sinks, and an overscaled patterned floor.
