Good news for chair fetishists – we’re going to start this visit to Milan restaurant Bio.it with more information than normal about the venue’s seating. Italian chair makers Billiani pointed us in the direction of the eatery – located in the recently completed Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) buildings in the Porta Nuova district – so it’s only fair we give their rather lovely seats an early mention. Architect Ingrid Fontanili used 130 of Billiani‘s chairs to cosset the buttocks at Bio.it; the solid beech Gradisca chairs and stools designed by Werther Toffolini and Emilio Nanni’s Tracy chairs, with solid wooden piece backrests, are the two main models.
Bio.it is zonally divided in two, with the larger indoor dining room coming in at 140 sqm and a glazed terrace at half that size. The latter is the place to be if you want a view of one of Stefano Boeri’s stunning forest towers, and nature has crept its tendrils into Fontanili’s restaurant interior too. Planter boxes separate tables, pots hang from the ceiling as though falling from above, and there’s a big ingredient-laden wall mural as well – all these elements give colour to the canvas of pale wood and light paint.
Photography © Ingrid Fontanili
