An immersive project of light, matter and colour

Tikka Charcoal Grill offers an extraordinary dining experience to anyone eager to discover the bold, distinctive flavours of Indian-Asian halal fusion cuisine. Located in Hicksville, a hamlet in the town of Oyster Bay on Long Island, New York, it is a restaurant where interior design becomes storytelling. In step with the latest design trends, Olbos Studio – a Brooklyn-based Italian-American practice founded by Giorgia Cedro – has created an experiential setting where materials, colours and carefully orchestrated lighting conjure up an underwater world of water, flora and fauna, illuminated with the shifting light of the ocean depths. Completed in 2023, the project makes extensive use of sophisticated Italian handcrafted ceramic tiles from AcquarioDue. Adopted consistently in key areas, they play a central role in shaping the restaurant’s identity and character.

Diners arriving at the 440-square-metre Tikka Charcoal Grill are immediately immersed in the underwater atmosphere. The vestibule envelops them in teal blue, animated by warm peach-coloured inlays in the floor. The main dining hall is a simple double-height space where tables and Kartell’s lightweight Masters chairs are arranged with fluidity, allowing for flexible and adaptable layouts.

The focal point is the bar counter, which captures the gaze as soon as one enters. Both backdrop and visual anchor, it is framed by three silver microcement arches with glass shelving and clad in three-dimensional tiles from the Calathea collection (named after a perennial herbaceous plant). Their organic design blends green with four shades of blue, forming a vibrant, constantly changing surface animated by light. On the ceiling, corrugated steel panels create a shimmering “surface of the sea” effect, breaking up light and forms and reflecting the Mediterranean Blue marble counter below.

“One of the main challenges of the project was to accommodate the client’s request for interchangeable environments, maximising space and ensuring flexibility to adapt table layouts and atmospheres for the many events hosted here,” explains Giorgia Cedro. The solution was to create four suspended volumes draped in semi-transparent aluminium curtains, through which clusters of Viabizzuno’s n55 pendant lamps sparkle like floating jellyfish and coloured lighting recalls the glow of luminescent coral. Together, these elements form modular “capsules” that can be opened or closed as required. Each capsule contains an intimate dining area for two to twelve people, set on Verde Antigua and Mediterranean Blue marble floors whose reflections are amplified by additional corrugated steel panels.

The same material and formal coherence continues in the ancillary areas, which are given equal importance. Here, ceramics demonstrate their versatility, adapting to different functions and moods while maintaining consistency. Even the bathrooms become immersive spaces inspired by marine and botanical worlds: Calathea in green and Pavoncella in deep blue are paired with coral-coloured sanitary fixtures, creating new interiors suspended between reality and imagination.