First-time restaurateurs chef Joe Rolle and bartender Stephen Rowe have recently opened Dario Restaurant, the latest hot ticket to arrive at Minneapolis’ North Loop, a neighbourhood known for its edgy shops, bars, breweries and coffee shops.
Discover Dario Restaurant, where Italian cuisine meets global influences
Dario’s distinctive feminine yet edgy aesthetic was brought to life by local hospitality designer Aaron Wittkamper of Wittkamper Studio. Inside, Benjamin Moore’s ‘A Touch of Pink’ painted wall blends with an image of a Roman statue peeking through a digital neon veil. Wittkamper describes the space as, ‘a light-filled, pink and teal environment, supported by an aesthetic that is both pristine and a bit punk rock’.
Brass accents contrast with the ‘undercurrent of energy’ that inspired the design and colour scheme. ‘Highlights include a small poetic archway in the main entry, along with a recessed back bar shelving wall and the kick rail below the bar,’ points out Wittkamper. Along those lines, an iridescent deeper teal velvet is used to anchor the end of the space in the brighter, yet smaller pink ‘Tiger Room’.
To ensure the long and skinny L-shaped space did not feel like a big cafeteria, Wittkamper placed two full-height white-washed oak lattice-like custom millwork pieces, which serve as bookends to the central bar area and dividing the overall restaurant into three main areas, without using an opaque divider to break up the space.
Floor-to-ceiling windows line the restaurant with banquette seating throughout the dining area, leading to a glass-enclosed pasta room, creating a fourth area, which transitions from a workspace by day to a dining area by night, where guests sit at the long butcher-block pasta-sheeting table. This provides an ‘eat-in-the-kitchen’ vibe where you can dine on everything from East Coast oysters topped with a Thai-style beef tartare to sautéed trout with saffron mussel emulsion, or doubled-sided stuffed ravioli with ricotta and caramelised sunchokes.
Guests can also opt to pull up a flamingo-like custom pink ‘Hula’ bar stool from Andreu World against a teardrop-shaped deep teal tile on the bar face, and order a Future Dancer, made with Destilerias Acha Extra Dry Vermouth, or a non-alcoholic option made with Shiitake tea.
Wittkamper adds, ‘I can comfortably say that Dario is a true expression of the owners’ culinary-forward personalities, as manifested in a restaurant.’
