Wes Anderson is best known for his surreal and highly stylised movies – but he’s no stranger to interior design, having crafted Prada’s whimsical Bar Luce in Milan. ‘I tried to make it a bar I would want to spend my own non-fictional afternoons in,’ explained Anderson, who gave the classic Milanese café a kitsch and colourful spin.
Many a designer has sought to replicate the Moonrise Kingdom director’s style, drawing inspiration from his signature pastel colour palettes and playful touches.
Head to these six cafés to submerge yourself in the world of Wes.
Breadway Bakery in Odessa, Ukraine
Kiev-based interior designer Lera Brumina and architect Artem Trigubchak conjured the interiors for new café, Breadway Bakery, which was partly inspired by Fondazione Prada’s Bar Luce. Anderson’s signature geometries can be read in arched banquette seating and coral pinks, which contrast with grey subway tiles and copper-coloured panels. As its name suggests, bread features prominently on the menu, which pushes local produce.
Pink Zebra in Kanpur, India
Bold stripes meets bubblegum pink inside Kanpur’s Pink Zebra by Renesa Architecture Design Interiors Studio. The madcap design sprang ‘from the client’s love for Wes Anderson’s set ideology and his love for fearful quirkiness,’ says the practice. The studio borrowed his signature symmetry and restricted colour palette too, and paired them with swooping arches and moulded panels that nod to the colonial history of the building.
Superbaba in Victoria, Canada
Anderson’s aesthetic gets a Middle Eastern twist inside Victoria’s Superbaba – a quick-eat Lebanese diner by Vancouver practice Studio Roslyn. Coloured arches dominate the space, including its curved blue service bar which is topped by a speckled quartzite countertop. Pink kitchen doors come complete with porthole windows, and are offset by sage colour pops. Tuck into a menu of Middle Eastern staples including hummus, fried cauliflower, and Baba Ganoush.
The Budapest Café in Chengdu, China
Melbourne-based studio Biasol has worked its magic inside this Chengdu bolthole, which – as its name suggests – is inspired by Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel. Sitting on the ground floor of a mixed-use building, the café features a staggered plinth topped by an Eero Aarnio bubble chair and packs in extra kitsch points via blue-green banquettes and ovaloid doors dressed with brass trimmings.
Cooker’s gourmet café in Moscow, Russia
From Russia with love – Cooker’s Gourmet café in Moscow borrows Anderson’s love of pastel shades. The bistro is the brainchild of Volkonsky bakery founders Alexander and Stephanie Garez, and Anastasia Nikiforova who roped in Veter Design & Architecture to craft the space’s instagramable interiors. Industrial bones have been dressed in blush pink and mint green, and kitted out with navy blue railway benches. The floor meanwhile is inspired by fractured ice, breaking up the stark symmetry of the space
Café Congreso in Malolos, the Philippines
There’s a whiff of Grand Budapest Hotel inside Café Congreso’s cotton candy dining hall. The retro digs opened in spring 2017, and its owner Joseph Malabanan has honed the Anderson vibe to the extreme via pink seating, teal walls and gold trimmings. The menu is just as sweet, with apple pie pastries, cookies and milkshakes stacked with whipped cream.
Read next: Inside the insane sets of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs
