1. THE BRIEF

Portuguese chef Rui Paula didn’t fully appreciate the value of design until his third restaurant, Boa Nova Tea House, was awarded a second Michelin Star in 2019. The space is built into the rocks overlooking the ocean in Porto, and Paula had gradually begun to observe how the coastal landscape shaped the direction of his cooking and menu. When it came time to renovate his second restaurant, DOP (first opened in 2010 in Porto proper), Paula commissioned Atelier Sérgio Rebelo (ASR) — a local architecture and design studio that specializes in cutting-edge hospitality projects — to craft a similarly inspirational backdrop. While DOP’s original interiors had skewed minimalist and neutral, the goal for the reimagining was a lively, urbane gastropub that evolves as the night wears on.

2. THE SETTING

DOP occupies two floors of Palácio das Artes, which once housed the Bank of Portugal. The historic building is situated in Largo de São Domingos, Porto’s bustling city square and a UNESCO World Heritage Site now teeming with fine-dining restaurants and luxury hotels. For ASR founding architect Sérgio Rebelo, the top priority for the reno was to create a layout where employees could see each of the main dining rooms in their entirety. “We wanted to create a welcoming relationship between the people that work there and the people that are going there for dinner,” he says.

3. THE DESIGN

ASR started by demolishing the bar mezzanine to accentuate the verticality of the space. It then redesigned the kitchen with glass doors to spotlight the theatrical rigour involved in this level of cooking. Each guest area was designed with a different theme. The new bar zone (now tucked into the front of the restaurant) is sleek, with terrazzo stone flooring, double-height ceilings, a walnut wood counter and DJ booth, and lipstick-red seating. Conversely, the back dining room is warm and intimate, with lower ceilings, caramel-hued leather upholstery and dark wood accents — “almost like you’re in your grandmother’s house, but designed in a contemporary way,” says Rebelo with a laugh. A terrazzo staircase connects the ground level to the matching upstairs dining room.

4. THE DETAILS

Pendants custom-made by ASR in collaboration with Portuguese manufacturer O/M illuminate each of the restaurant’s four double-height windows to improve the grand facade’s presence in the square. The fixtures also connect the two floors, passing through rounded cut-outs at the edge of the upper dining room to amplify the overall space’s verticality. (These curved openings are also a visual nod to the building’s arched window frames.) 

5. THE SCENE

For many of DOP’s diners, the real pièce de résistance is the bathroom. Here, ASR used black and white stone for a dazzle camouflage effect that has become a big hit on Instagram. The communal sink area best exemplifies ASR’s overarching goal with the renovation: “to create a new opportunity for people to connect outside their social circles,” says Rebelo. The result is fine dining without the fussiness, where chance encounters are encouraged. And in keeping with the new spirit of the space, chef Rui Paula’s latest dishes at DOP are as dynamic and sophisticated as their surroundings.