The pop-up Masterchef Dining & Bar by AZBcreative takes out international award

Restaurant interiors have to be my guilty pleasure and the pop-up Masterchef Dining & Bar didn’t disappoint!

While it was only in Sydney and Melbourne for eight weeks last year, the restaurant designed by AZBcreative has been catapulted back into the spotlight after taking out the prestigious Gold Prize for Conceptual Design at the annual International Design Awards in Los Angeles.

With a mission to create a venue for premium dining with a sense of permanence and luxury, AZBcreative designed and constructed this two-level, multiple-room, semi-permanent dining space and bar entirely out of scaffolding. Inspired by Victorian Pavilions, a 20 metre by 30 metre marquee shell was transformed into a classical, European restaurant. The scaffolding skeleton was perfectly clad in wall panels and custom-made pavilion columns, with beautiful detailing including: 33 vintage, milk-glass pendant lights floating over the dining space and multi-filament globe ‘cubedeliers’ above the kitchen. The interior was further illuminated through the clear roof panels that allowed the external environment, buildings, views and the starry night sky into the restaurant.

The central kitchen witnessed the creation of over 600 dishes per evening, with 16 metres of Carrara marble and raw Oregon timber forming the dramatic counter, topped with custom designed powder-coated steel shelves to display fresh produce, decor elements and hand written blackboards.

The upstairs public bar and private high-tea rooms with their classic mix of Bentwood chairs, antique baker lights, leather Chesterfields and Victorian pressed tin, provided a space to unwind in after work and observe the culinary action below.

The project, which was designed for both foodies and consumers and lovers of the popular international TV show MasterChef was a huge success in 2013, so fingers crossed it will be returning this year.

Check out our Covet my Coffee Table feature with the mastermind behind AZBcreative, Alex Zabotto-Bentley, here.