There’s nothing notably declarative about Dalla on Morning Lane in Hackney—and that’s the purpose. The room is spare and regarded—cream partitions, easy tables, a deliberate calm—by no means treasured. The area is designed by Neapolitan founder Gennaro Leone in collaboration along with his good friend, Sicilian designer Oscar Piccolo. Previous to Dalla, Gennaro based Spazio Leone, the east London retailer recognized for sourcing up to date objects, artwork, and furnishings. So when it got here to design references, his have been private and exacting: chairs Gennaro photographed in a Bordeaux bistro, bowls of fruit in a Buenos Aires restaurant, and the beloved Neapolitan trattoria Mimì alla Ferrovia relationship again to 1944 the place Gennaro and his spouse, Tessa, had their pre-wedding dinner.
That is, partly, why the inside feels genuine and unforced—and why almost the whole lot within the room is both custom-made or rigorously sourced. A Fifties Stilnovo chandelier from a Milanese market and metallic wall lights, in-built Naples to a design by Leone and Piccolo sit alongside Robert Mallet-Stevens chairs. Opened by Gennaro along with his brother, Gianmarco Leone, alongside chef Mitchell Damota, Dalla is called for the Italian singer Lucio Dalla, who soundtracked the brothers’ childhood holidays—a dedication that displays the character of the area itself.
Images by Thea Løvstad for Dalla, besides the place famous.
