There is a food street near the 1st exit of Kyungbok Palace station. It’s a place where businessmen relieve their stress of a tiring day after work. If you walk into the middle of Seochon, you can see the spaces showing up one by one where you can spend the evening in Seochon. Of Onebook got curious of those spaces that have Seochon’s mood. Crowded and live atmosphere is also nice but sometimes I would like to call a day in a calm space. Seochon is perfect for couples who enjoy quiet date and walk. ‘Azzurro’, next to the Tongin Market, is not actually an eye-catching space. In general, wine bar makes me think of fancy outerrior, but this place is located underground of the shopping area, so it was not possible to see the inside. Once entering the inside, I could meet Azzurro, the deep ocean in calm Seochon. Shall we listen to the story and details of Azzurro which give comfort to tired people like the ocean.
Q1. It’s impressive that it feels like I’m in the ocean. I see the origin of the word ‘Azzurro’ is ‘blue road’, What kind of meaning does the name contain?
“I like blue and navy color, and I wanted to put much of my color when I designed this place from the scratch, unlike the Gosma. So I chose blue style colors and Azzurro came from there. The reason why I put ‘sentiero’ in front is that the walking trail along the coast is called ‘sentiero azzurro’. The name contains the story that ‘it is a space where you can have various Italian food like you are taking a walk on an Italian coast trail’. I approached simply with the color and now it has a bigger meaning.”
“While designing the interior, I visualized a coastal cliff. If you see here, the table is made of marble and the bottom is wood and the other color expresses the ocean. That’s why I chose granite for the main table unlike other spaces here.
Q2. didn’t you have any worries to suggest a space which has a different style with Seochon’s color?
“Mostly there are restaurants in Seochon and they close around 10pm. People always look for places for the second round and there are not many places for that in this area. There are some bars but it would be too much to go to eat again. The idea I planned is to build a place where people can visit comfortably after 10pm in Seochon. At first, I was going to simply sell wines since I got Italian food, but the thing is that the customer base of Gosma is quite young. Even though I set the businessmen as the target market, Gosma customers tend to come here a lot. That’s why I put traditional alcohol in the menu. Young customers like the traditional ones better.”
Q3. What is the reason you suggest small dish experience?
“Small dish means many simple dishes, as you can’t drink a lot if you get full. I like to try various menus when I go to a restaurant, you know, I’m willing to spend money on food. I’m adjusting the menu to lower the price and volume of the food. People usually drink alcohol at bars, and the food is only just some crackers and cheese, but I wanted to run a place where you can have food and drink together until late, therefore I chose the concept of small dish.
Q4. I can see the details not only in the space but also in the cutleries. Would you please introduce them?
“This space is a hexagon bar. At a usual bar table, three people sit next to each other but here you can bring four. I adjusted it as I thought I had to pursue comfortability.
“All the glasses are imported products, so are the stands and the tools, unlike Gosma. You see it has a concept. All matched with stainless steel, black and mirror-like feeling, and there is a heating lamp to warm up the foods. People like the heated plates. Well these are not the essential actually, however, as I mentioned earlier, I want to put my color. That small thing can be recognized by people in the same industry. They are like ‘oh, this place got that stuff’. Actually the interior designer was surprised as well.”
“It’s called wine aerator and there are wines which give its own flavor when touched by the air. You can’t have these kinds of wines right away. One day, I went to a bar in Japan and they served wine in here. It is quite difficult to find and I was so impressed. It feels even more attractive if he hear the sound.”
INTERVIEW DATE / 2019. 08. 12
INTERVIEWEE / @sentiero_azzuro
INTERVIEWER / Won, Wan