Sylvestre Restaurant is located on the first and second floors of Casa Calderón, a California Colonial style mansion dating from 1953.
The principal entrance is via a majestic double stone staircase that frames the double-height lobby, emphasized by the presence of a 5-meter-tall tree. To one side is the “smokers’ room” conceived as a traditional, welcoming space employing bronze mirrors on the ceiling, wooden paneling and leather furnishings.
On the opposite side of the same floor we find the bar, strikingly furnished with a bar made from a single mango tree trunk. The first floor also contains the kitchen and service stair, invisible to diners.The original ceiling moldings have been retained throughout the house to retain the classical character of the original architecture, with the addition of contemporary details to generate contrasts that produce a welcoming environment for diners.
There are two ways of reaching the second floor, either using the original central staircase made of white granite, or via the elevator installed in the central space in the course of the renovation.
On the second floor, a series of different spaces were designed based around the original distribution of the house. To the front, the canopy of the tree rising out of the lobby is visible. Two each side are dining areas. One of these is finished in concrete tiles, a bronze metal ceiling and wooden bookcases that endow a sense of warmth. The other retains the original finishes of the house, with granite floors and fireplace that hark back to an earlier age.
The heart of the second floor is the second bar, which similarly incorporates a large mango trunk and provides service to the general dining area. This area expands the original bays of the house, while respecting the delicate moldings of the ceilings and windows. At the very back is located a terrace, where significant interventions were carried out with the creation of large openings in the roof slab to let in natural light, which is controlled by wooden pergolas, vegetation, and mirrors. Finally, an extension to the floor was built to the rear, with a beautiful garden as a natural backdrop to the whole dining area. The landscape design aimed to use multiple hues of green to contrast with the gray tones of the concrete tile floor and the metal-clad ceilings.
Different furniture configurations are used to give shape and sensation to the space. Tables with cast iron bases and wooden tops were used together with upholstered chairs and a number of items of leather furniture.
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