Down-Home Meets High Design at Somma

In Singapore, chef Mirko Febbrile and Nice Projects have combined a pasta bar and fine-dining restaurant to craft one memorable destination, Somma

In 2021, when chef Mirko Febbrile first stepped into the high-ceilinged space that would eventually become Somma, he knew it was meant to be. ‘As I looked at the arcs and architecture, I felt that if there was even a tiny, one per cent chance of securing this space, I’d wait,’ recalls Febbrile. The eight-metre-high vaulted ceiling reminded him of the arched walkways of his hometown in Puglia, making it the perfect canvas. Three years later, Somma is open, at last.

It’s both a fine-dining restaurant and pasta bar, with only a short stairway separating the two venues in Singapore’s newest design enclave, New Bahru (and is also a Lo & Behold Group project). The name, which means ‘sum’ in Italian, encapsulates Febbrile’s vision in layered ways. ‘Somma is one soul but two expressions,’ he explains. ‘The pasta bar is where you play and explore, while the restaurant above is about discovering a new way of fine dining.’ 

The menus are a reflection of Febbrile’s Italian origins and global odyssey, including a decade in Singapore, resulting in dishes that will feel familiar yet unexpected. Sacha Leong and Simone McEwan from London-based Nice Projects have done the same with the interiors, melding diverse influences into one whole. ‘We distilled Mirko’s ambitions for a fine Apulian space while preserving the original architecture to create a pure and beautiful restaurant,’ McEwan says. 

The duo has employed distinctive Italian materials and elements while exploring new trajectories, like the pasta bar’s sinuous 14-metre red travertine counter and back bar, whose silhouette loosely references classical Apulian antiques, and the bar ledge and mirrored surfaces that run through the room are reminiscent of Italian coffee shops. These features are offset by contemporary materials like brushed steel and modern interpretations of classic forms like the Brutalist-inspired Atelier De Troupe glass sconces in the bar lounge.

Nice Projects’ pursuit of simplicity has yielded a confiding intimacy, in spite of the massive floorplate. In the upper-level fine-dining space, the designers opened up the show kitchen and lowered the sight-line, which established the guideline for the height of the doors, kitchen opening and custom three-metre long Bowles and Linares pendants. Craft elements add a down-home feel, best exemplified by the 7-metre-long wall of ceramic tiles that anchors the dining room. Leong, McEwan and Febbrile worked closely with artist Vincenzo Del Monaco, also from Puglia, on the design and colours, assembling the 230 tile-wall piece by piece.

With Somma, Nice Projects has found a delicate balance between old and new, simple and singular, honest and honorific. ‘We stayed away from creating a pastiche of Italian design by not referencing anything too heavily and picking the right elements,’ says Leong. ‘You make an interesting space when you stop trying to be something else.’ In weaving the best features with refinement and intention, Nice Projects has crafted something original and remarkable — the sum of which is larger than its parts. 

Text by Joseph Koh 
Images by Lisa Cohen