Locally based designer Ismini Karali had the fortunate challenge of designing two restaurants for two different owners in two of the coolest districts in Athens, with one thing in common: both needed a luxurious ambience for their “assuming” audience.

“Rich Café was a business without a corporate profile,” Karali says. “The owner wanted a brand new corporation with an exceptional and luxurious ambience. The key was to reinvent luxuriousness.”

With that in mind, the central bar is made of “emperador” marble, furnishings are done in velvet and leather, a color palette of blue, brown, and red contrast the wooden floors, lamps are wrapped in a lighted design, and a puzzle of mirrors with various designs covers the inner wall. One of Karali’s favorite aspects? The wooden library above the sofas, which “respires an air of elegance and reminds me of my favorite architect, Frank Lloyd Wright,” she explains. “The biggest challenge was to figure out how to combine different colors and decorative elements in a place where together with unique lighting fixtures covered with gold leaves and precious materials, a soothing ambience would be created. The question that had to be answered was: how can you have all this luxury without ending up with a ‘kitschy’ effect.”

For Shogun Café, on the ground floor of the legendary 5-Star hotel Theoxenia Palace, which was recently revitalized, “the owner wanted to achieve an exclusive feel with an exotic Asian character,” Karali says. “The plan was to mix together the Asian atmosphere with European elements and fixtures.”

Asian-inspired colors like green, brown, and ochre complement textures like wood, silk, and old metal. “This scheme conjures up images of long days, hot sun, and a relaxed, idiosyncratic approach to enjoying life,” she says. The highlights: an extravagant Brazilian Verde bamboo marble bar, an interwoven wooden ceiling, and a large communal table that seats 20, defined by a grand geometric chandelier hanging above. “The biggest challenge was figuring out how to make familiar a place with precious decorative elements that create a sense of quiet luxury,” she says.