Italian craftsmanship — a feast for the senses

On the pedestrian street in Odder, restaurant Vecchio Convento serves the best of Italian cuisine. In addition to traditional food, the restaurant is also characterised by an Italian sense of craftsmanship and design. 

It was very important for Italian chef Massimiliano Cameli to bring the best of Italy to Denmark. The restaurant has a larger room with a view of Odder pedestrian street and off of it, a smaller room with a view of the kitchen through an opening in the wall. The interior design is characterised by the constant presence of elements that awaken the senses, which was an intentional concept behind the design. Architect Kenneth Arboe, also from Odder, says that designing the restaurant has been an exciting process. He continues, “After peeling away all of the entrails of the previous Greek restaurant we found remnants of the older building. We built upon these, including a carriage gate with a brick arch and a ceiling with fine details.” 

Special design

Large sections of the ceiling are fitted with black Troldtekt line acoustic panels. Troldtekt has some good acoustic properties that are important in a restaurant, but in terms of design, the lines in the panels provide a sense of direction in the crooked old house, while the spotlights in the ceiling are on rails that beautifully frame the ceiling panels. The black colour of the Troldtekt panels imparts a pleasant intimacy to the room together with the dark green colour of the ceiling.

A special mosaic floor that matches the plastered brick walls was laid by an Italian craftsman. Working from the design guidelines, skilled Italian craftsmen from Massimiliano’s hometown of Portico Di Romagna decorated the bar and the lamps above in dark steel. Similarly, the small ceramic lamps hanging above the tables were specially designed for the space and made in Italy by friends of the chef. Everywhere, fine details have been incorporated, including in the furnishings and decor. On the walls, of course, you will find photographs from the chef’s picturesque home region in Northern Italy.