It doesn’t get more Melbourne than Cumulus Inc. Since it opened in 2008 in a former art gallery on Melbourne’s Flinders Lane, the trend-setting eating house has served as the great all-rounder – a relaxed, all-day dining experience in a space elegant but not pretentious. This isn’t as easy to achieve as it seems. Back in 2008, a restaurant doing breakfast to dinner service with a fine dining ethos was new. But the design by Pascale Gomes-McNabb, which draws on the warehouse feel of the space and the north-facing windows to create a generous, open and timeless interior, helped to define this approach. This is why Cumulus Inc. is our very worthy 2019 Eat Drink Design Awards Hall of Fame inductee. The venue and interior has thrived for more than a decade, establishing it as a Melbourne icon. I encourage you to read the reflection essay by 2019 Eat Drink Design Awards juror and New York Times restaurant critic Besha Rodell (page 76).
This issue celebrates the best of Australia and New Zealand’s eating and drinking interiors through our coverage of the Eat Drink Design Awards – the shortlisted, highly commended and awarded projects. Our region’s reputation as a drinking and dining destination has been bolstered by the extraordinary design and architecture happening in these venues.
So join me as we raise a glass and congratulate all those shortlisted and awarded this year, and celebrate the exceptional quality and diversity they are achieving in hospitality design.
– Cassie Hansen, Editor, Artichoke
