A small family restaurant is bringing footfall to Beirut's port area

Every new business in Beirut’s rehabilitating port area is good news, so locals and visitors alike are celebrating the arrival of Father & Bun, a buzzy spot on a quiet street, one back from the coastal road. With rare outdoor seating and a reverence for quality baked goods, it encourages the slow enjoyment of fresh food and appreciation of playful design (and a good pun).

The starting point for the design was a double-height stone interior wall, an original to the building owned by the family of the restaurateur. Designers at the Beirut office of Atelier 130 were forbidden from altering it, so they made it into a cornerstone of the design. It now stands behind an envelope of wood panelling with a fine vertical grain — a reminder of the city’s long history. The wood masks a central kitchen, opening slightly to allow a peek-a-boo reeded-glass window. It provides a contemporary backdrop at eye level for the fun colourful seating.

Visitors enter via the bar area, a sunken space built out in steel and vertical wood panels with deep recessed storage lined in lipstick red. Deeper into the room is banquette seating wrapped in yellow upholstery, where guests can crowd and linger with a drink or dishes of salads, dips and fresh, still-warm bread. The thrum of activity, enhanced by the raw open ceiling, is slightly muted by the integration of acoustic foam panels to support both form and function: the ceiling was left raw, with acoustic panels seamlessly integrated to address the issue of echo — an essential yet invisible element designed, produced, and installed by 21dB.

The focal point is a double-height bacchanalian mural on the back wall, generated by AI and then painted with ancient techniques by local artist Habib Khoury, to add depth and character. Back here, surrounded by wine storage that rises to the vaulted ceiling, are the more intimate tables.

Contemporary globe pendants were designed locally by PSLAB, and theatrical spotlights cast dramatic beams across the wood panelling to the mural. Discreet lighting around the small, intimate mezzanine level, accessed by a subtle winding staircase, shrouds the tables with a warm glow.