Design Focus: Bar Milano, Giffnock, Glasgow

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Bar Milano has a new look, and a slightly modified name. Susan Young paid a visit to the eatery in Glasgow’s Southside.

There’s not that many places that you can go for a drink or a bite to eat in the suburb of Giffnock but many locals may be inclined to stay closer to home now that Bar Milano in Main Road has had a revamp and re-opened as Milano Italian Kitchen and Bar and is now owned by Ian Donaldson and Lello Branco.
The traditional looking restaurant complete with Italian murals, dark wood panelling and timber, has been replaced by a classy and contemporary bar and restaurant, and the refurbishment which cost in the region of £200K, took only 19 days and was orchestrated by Burns Design. The building was formerly a bank and is listed and as a result there is not much that can be changed outside, but inside there has been significant changes to the layout.
As you walk in the door there is now a modern bar on the left, explains co-owner Lello Branco, “Before the bar was at the back of the restaurant, which didn’t encourage people to just come for a drink. Now we have the bar on the ground floor, so now our guests can come in for a drink and stand at the bar.”
The area also has a large posing table and a few sofas in a pale mushroom and dark glass coffee tables with an L-shaped fixed seating area upholstered in a metallic mushroom fabric against a rich coffee coloured wall, which also has a modern feature fire at eye level.
Said a spokesman for Burns Design, “The main objective was to make Milano more sumptuous and relaxed and give it a more modern and fresh look. To make it more relaxed we went with a lot of soft fabrics and furnishings and muted tones, in earthy but subtle colours. The whole feel of the place was to be softer.”
Now the bar area is downstairs and you go up a few stairs to a new mezzanine which boasts two large semi-circular booths, in a luxurious metallic fabric and a few dining tables and chairs. This area leads to a larger restaurant area, which remains very similar in size and shape to the original. Says Lello, “We have modernised this area, and made more of a feature of the stone wall. The addition of the mirrors, framed with the cream curtains also adds depth to the room and makes it appear much bigger.” Here the seating arrangements include semi-circular booths as well as smaller, more intimate tables. The gold has been contrasted with black chair covers, which makes for a classy presentation.

Category: Features
Tags: Bar Milano, DESIGN, Giffnock, Lello Branco