«True Cost» restaurant | ESENINS design studio

The idea was to make the interior design of the new True Cost restaurant distinctive and democratic yet embracing the recognizable elements of the chain, and also add some eye-catching, creative features. Arrange three dining areas in such a way that they are slightly different in ambience and suited for a variety of occasions: a space for entertainment events which has the bar, a stage and allows for using part of the room as a dance floor; a multi-functional space with a transforming seating area for large banquets; and a space with comfortable sofa seating and an additional entrance to the restaurant.   

In order to fit in the checkroom and find a convenient place for the reception/checkout desk, it was decided to turn about the traffic in the area adjacent to the entrance lobby. In addition, the checkroom enabled to separate the bathroom area from the dining area without erecting additional walls that would cut off the free flow of natural light through the window into the room. 

The first dining area also has a large wooden bar with the front of the bar counter faced with metal-look tiles, and a stage area for the performance of music bands. The center of the room provides a mobile seating arrangement which allows moving the tables together to make space for a dance floor. Under the ceiling (which is the highest in this room), there is an installation made of wooden cases featuring the logo of the restaurant (True Cost). We have placed lights in these wooden cases thus lowering the lighting to make it closer to the guests to prevent the space from getting cluttered with multiple lighting tracks. The wall is decorated with the artwork custom-made by artist Maxim Borisov and his team. This artwork, a volumetric panel made of screws with painted heads against the concrete background, features two dynamic human figures dancing.      

In the second dining area on the first floor, there are two panels made by the same artist using mixed-media painting techniques that combine different colors, materials and textures. This room offers a stationary yet unconventional seating space with half round sofas and a wave-shaped screen in the center to accommodate more guests whilst maintaining privacy. The lighting is split-level: these include both overhead lights (large-size light fixtures and spot lights) and wall-mounted lights and floor lamps, thus allowing for space zoning. Here you can see two decorative screens featuring the letters “T” and “C”.    

The dining area on the second floor can be accessed by going up the stairs, and is separated by a glass entrance lobby. This area has been designed to ensure maximum flexibility – the room is suited for entertainment events (birthday or corporate parties, etc.), all the furniture here can be moved together/apart, enabling to transform the space. The room decor includes a mirror wall panel at the entry featuring the human face, and some wall panels, also custom-made, depicting geometric figures. Hanging on the wall adjacent to the bathroom is one more custom panel made of wooden strips and various illuminated glass. As the ceiling of the second room is always visible to the guests outside, we’ve focused on the lighting making it unusual and varied: it’s fascinating to see what is upstairs. With the custom floor lamps behind the sofa, the lighting is positioned lower and thus closer to the guest.     

There was no opportunity to allocate a separate space for a bathroom in the dining area on the first floor, so the space was split into two bathroom stalls with a large washbasin fitted in the window. One wall is composed of glass blocks to admit more natural light into the bathroom on the second floor. Glass blocks provide visual obscuration, so the guest standing at the washbasin is not visible from the stairs between the floors, and can feel comfortable.     

The materials used for the interior decoration include mostly bricks in natural shades or painted in the brand colors, as well as natural materials such as wood, leather and metal. The color palette of the space on Belorusskaya chimes with the color shades of the True Cost restaurant on Dmitrovskaya, thus uniting both into a single story.      

An interested guest will notice the person depicted in all the art elements across the space because this place is about people and for people.