Husband and wife team Domenic and Diana Caruso’s Ascot Vale eatery, No. 19, is a new addition to Melbourne’s vibrant café culture following on from their first café, St Rose. Fusing a casual approach with a hint of sophistication, simplicity is cited as its key mantra here — the duo serving up honest, healthy food, smoothies, and Five Senses coffee in a 1950s deli-inspired space.
Open for breakfast and lunch, diners can tuck into chia banana bread, acai bowls, superfood salads, bigger plates (like wagyu beef burger and Moroccan pulled lamb) satisfying their hungrier clientele. Melbourne-based creative studio Biasol worked with the couple to realise their vision — taking an integrated approach to the project, their main task was to ensure the architecture, interiors, branding and products worked together harmoniously; making for a cohesive and memorable dining experience.
Flooded by natural light, the space features a concrete service counter accented with authentic hand-painted green and teal tiles from Morocco — whilst, at the front of the café, timber-topped tables, teal banquettes and high stools are configured to ensure a connection between diners and the buzz of the baristas; ambience as important to Biasol as aesthetic. ‘In Melbourne,’ the designers explain, ‘breakfast is the new dinner, it’s a social activity. We carefully considered music, furniture, crockery, finishes and visual communication to create a relaxed, sophisticated atmosphere.’
Photography, Ari Hatzis
