Mediterranean meets modern in the design of Momed
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The architectural firm JohnstonMarklee has brought ornate Mediterranean and Middle Eastern design motifs into the neutral-colored, less-is-more present in the new Beverly Hills restaurant Momed, an abbreviation of ‘modern Mediterranean.’
“We wanted to pick up on the architecture of places like Greece, Turkey and Lebanon and incorporate that tradition of tile work and ornate mosaics,” says Sharon Johnston, who with partner Mark Lee has designed L.A. spaces such as the Hungry Cat restaurant and the eye-catching Helios gas station on Olympic Boulevard. “For Momed, the idea was to take a lot of the industrial components that we had to have and then to reinterpret them in a kind of traditional pattern-making way.”
Take the air ducts overhead. The architects decided to form what they call “a tapestry” of ducts that they laid in a unified direction and then painted white. Then they clustered lighting in groups around the tubes. “The effect becomes a tented ceiling look with the flower-like mosaic patterns made by the lights,” Johnston says. They also wanted to reference borders -- another typical Mediterranean motif -- so they wrapped the black ceramic floor tile partially up the white walls. The wooden chairs are similarly patterned: The tops are white, and the legs are left unpainted.
The one thing you won’t find in the 2,000-square-foot space is rich color. “The idea was to create a more neutral environment,’ Johnston says. ‘It’s a vibrant platform for the food and herbs and spices to animate.”
Momed, which is in the former Rosti space on Beverly Drive, will be a sit-down restaurant and a marketplace for Middle Eastern ingredients and prepackaged foods. A representative says the website will be operational next week: www.atmomed.com.
-- Alexandria Abramian Mott
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(Rendering from JohnstonMarklee)