Ember, a new restaurant in Ottawa’s Byward Market district, comes by its name honestly. Built to showcase the power of burning flames, the kitchen is equipped with both a wood-fired pizza oven and a charcoal grill that lends meat (or brussel sprouts) a delicious smoky flavour. The dining area, for its part, carries on that same theme — albeit with no actual hearth in sight. Instead, the design team at Studio Garrah uses warm tones, expressive patterns and an absorbing glow to create an ambiance that subtly conjures up fire’s primordial magic — without setting the whole place ablaze.

“The goal was to create an interior that was colourful and moody, with a splash of sophistication, but overall a playful lounge for drinks or a great meal,” says firm founder Rnea Garrah. To start things off, a front area bordered by wraparound banquette seating carves out a zone with all the intimate yet inviting comfort of a campfire circle — perfect for after-work drinks. Adding to the social atmosphere, a collage on the wall behind this cocktail area depicts hundreds of different characters engaged in lively chatter. Meanwhile, yellow velvet stools stand in for an actual fire pit to provide a bright moment — and to make it easy to table-hop.

Mind you, it is the front area’s banquette upholstery — a mix of burgundy leather and a geometric pattern that evokes dancing coals — that really sets the tone for the rest of the project’s palette. Sure enough, the red-hot colour scheme continues in an adjacent seating area across from the bar, which is itself backed by a textural, terracotta-hued wall treatment.

Looking towards the kitchen, a portion of the front room’s back wall is clad in glossy burgundy tiles. Throughout the space, other materials like wood and metal call to mind kindling and steel forging, amplifying the restaurant’s elemental associations.

Yet the real drama begins once you step up into the main dining room. Wallpapered in an ombré print that transitions from yellow to red, the room has a fiery beauty made all the more dramatic by the room’s lighting strategy. “We wanted to create a mood, so we kept to uplighting along the backs of the bench seating to highlight the gradient wallpaper,” says Garrah.

Adding another layer of intrigue, vases, jars and other sculptural decor from Obakki hold court at the centre of the room’s snaking arrangement of green banquettes. “They’re a Canadian company that we discovered at a recent BDNY show,” notes Garrah. “We were inspired by their story and chose to incorporate their pieces to add a unique and personal touch to the design.”

Especially when it comes to finding a good date-night spot in Ottawa, it never hurts to pick somewhere with a built-in sense of spark. Thanks to Studio Garrah’s design, Ember seems set to fan the flames of more than a few future romantic pairings.