It’s rare to see Foster + Partners take on a bijou restaurant project, but Oreade is a rare kind of restaurant, perched on a medieval hilltop overlooking Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia. Part of the Monteverdi hotel, heart of the village Castiglioncello del Trinoro, the 14-seat dining room is run by chef Riccardo Bacciottini, beloved for his innovative use of sustainable ingredients, foraged mushrooms and herbs, edible flowers and heirloom grains in artful and inventive ways. The restaurant itself was named for the nymphs of Greek mythology, shorthand for the connection to terroir.

Renovations were subtle yet effective, sliding into the existing envelope of Tuscan stone. Adhering to the principles of Arte Povera, a movement of the 1960s and 1970s stressing the use of ready-made objects in design, the architects sourced 90% of materials within a 100-mile radius of the site. Hand-worked wood and upholstery fabrics were manufactured nearby and used to make dining chairs with custom slings to hold personal belongings.

To build the chef’s table, designers fused two planks of timber from a local olive tree with a liquid metal spine. Elsewhere, they transformed a 300-year-old ceiling beam into a bench with integrated LED lighting. Local artisans were enlisted to create acoustic panels on the ceiling by weaving together branches; others incorporate timber and woven leather as the warp and weft.

Oreade fashions a different tasting menu every evening, showcasing local proteins like hare, wild boar, fallow deer, Chianina beef and fish from the Tuscan lakes. Chef Bacciottini visits each table with an artisanal folding timber guéridon to support his dishes while he adds the final touches.

Foster + Partners also designed an art gallery for the Monteverdi hotel, along with its second restaurant, Zita.

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