Eye on Design | Stockholm | A Feast for the Eyes
I love sampling the incredible cuisine of restaurants around the world . . . but it’s often the design of the restaurant itself that really leaves an impression.
In Stockholm, it was the walls of the lofty dining room at Pontus! (the exclamation point is part of the name) that really caught my eye.
Pontus Frithiof began his restaurant career when he was fifteen, and opened his first restaurant at age twenty-six. Cementing his place as one of Stockholm’s premier restauranteurs, he opened the sprawling, three restaurants in one, Pontus! in 2008.
Surrounding circular banquettes (and a massive, oversized “desk lamp”) are floor-to-ceiling trompe-l’oeil (“trick of the eye”) bookshelves.
The bookshelves are actually custom-made wallpaper, created by photographing Frithiof’s own shelves at home.
The contents of the shelves are endlessly fascinating, and brilliantly styled, right down to the random memorabilia tucked in among the books.
The food was incredible, but, let’s face it . . . it’s that amazing wallpaper that will stick with me.
Pontus!
1 Brunnsgatan
Stockholm, Sweden
pontusfrithiof.com
Pam,
I had to laugh at my own disappointment when I came to “trompe-l’oeil”, having been captivated at the thought of real bookcases as a dining background! We share a love of books as design elements, so I wasn’t surprised. I was mollified to know that the wallpaper was the product of photographs of the owner’s own bookshelves.
I don’t thank you often enough for the beauty you bring to my home, but it means so much to me. Thank you, dear.