Trofi Restaurant
Trofí is a Mediterranean restaurant on Somerset, and it carries a particular burden: it comes from the team behind one of Ottawa’s best-known Greek fast-casual rooms, and it had to feel like a clear step up from that without losing the warmth. Iron & Ivory designed the interior. The lighting is built in layers rather than from a single source, and that is what does most of the work.
Slim brass-stemmed pendants run in a line above the banquette, dropping small, warm points of light onto each table and giving the long room a rhythm. Against the white walls, black swing-arm sconces are articulated, so light can be aimed rather than simply emitted — useful in a narrow dining room where the wall carries much of the visual weight. A woven rattan drum pendant anchors the front of the space by the window, where it reads from the street and does a job a sign can’t.
Each layer has a different task. Together they let the room shift from bright and open at lunch to something quieter and more considered after dark — the same space, doing two jobs, without changing a fixture.
Design by Iron & Ivory.
