If, like us, you’d kill to step onto a Wes Anderson set, The Budapest Café in Chengdu, China is basically a dream come true.
Though it seems as if you could conceivably spot deadpan daughter Margot Tenenbaum, dapper concierge Gustave, intrepid oceanographer Steve Zissou or even fantastic Mr Fox at a table beside you, The Budapest Café in Chengdu, China is no filmic fantasy – it’s director Wes Anderson’s aesthetic in real life. Designed by Melbourne-based studio Biasol, the eatery is meant to feel like a magical world in which you can detach from the everyday outside – kind of like the fictional Budapest Hotel. The creative team channelled Wes’s precise, whimsical sets, borrowing his singular bold yet understated brand of nostalgia mixed with modernity to create a minimalist dream destination with a sense of grandeur and an international appeal. It’s an ultra-Instagrammable, pastel taste of Melbourne’s café culture, half a world away.
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Nerd chair by Muuto, $844, bauhaus.co.nz. Only U wall light, $1257, volkerhaug.com. Resene Deep Teal, resene.co.nz. Penny Round cushion, $109, smallacorns.co.nz. Graymont terrazzo, from $173/m2, terrazzo.nz.
Words Philippa Prentice
Photography James Morgan