A Mediterranean-inspired restaurant blossoms in Belgravia

Photography: Billy Bolton

Tucked inside Belgravia’s new design destination, Newson’s Yard, Wildflowers is a relaxed yet elegant neighbourhood eatery, taking design prompts from Mediterranean dining, floristry and its central London location. An amalgamation of both chef Aaron Potter’s time in Michelin-starred kitchens abroad and Laura Hart’s interior stylist and florist background including time at Petersham Nurseries, Wildflowers was destined to be an eatery inspired by southern Europe with floral flourishes from the very beginning.

Design director and founder of Studio Found, Ed Plumb, worked collaboratively with the couple to realise their vision, looking to Potter for the project’s layout and functionality and Hart for its overall visual design language. The brief was not only to create an interior that instilled the homely feel of family-ran trattorias, but also one that entrenched the venue in its immediate locality – an archaic timber yard revitalised as an upmarket homeware outlet.

Split over two floors, the design called for cohesion between the entrance, restaurant-delicatessen on the ground floor and the wine bar on the upper floor. Downstairs, in the dining area, the integrated kitchen-dining space connects the guests with their food and the people who have prepared it, where an oversized kitchen island means chefs can garnish dishes directly in guests’ eyeline, offering a restaurant experience that plays to all five senses.

Inspired by the cicchetti and pintxos bars of Italy and Spain, the wine bar occupies the whole upper level. Here, a dark-wood counter, embellished with an oversized traditional edge and bookended by stained-glass lamps, dominates the space. A mixture of banquette and traditional seating is arranged around the central bar for optimal views over the adjacent covered courtyard.

While the Victorian brickwork firmly roots the venue in the UK capital, nods to the Mediterranean can be appreciated in the colours, styles and textures of the décor. Simple materials such as rough plaster, terracotta, wood and linen characterise the principal spaces, where playful touches such as striped chair upholstery and colourful bathroom cubicles create areas of intrigue.