GIOIA CAFE & BAR
Services: Architecture, Interior Design, Branding
Awards: NYCxDesign Finalist for Best Casual Dining
Gioia Cafe & Bar, located in New Haven, brings together the old and new; from its innovative approach to program to its sensitive adaptive reuse strategy to its rich cultural narrative, the project is a bold, playful, and inventive addition to its community. Located in the historic neighborhood of Wooster Square, home to New Haven’s first Italian-American immigrants, Gioia Caffe and Bar presents a vision for the next chapter of New Haven’s iconic status as a culinary and cultural destination.
In addition to the main dining room and bar, the restaurant includes a gelateria, a roof deck bar, and a neighborhood market that transforms into a private dining room. This hybrid program allows visitors to engage with the Gioia experience in a diverse set of spaces, from intimate booths to an outdoor bench to a communal banquette.
The neighborhood of Wooster Square has a colorful and boisterous history as a center of Italian-American culture and cuisine in New England. Each evening, streets are crowded with locals and visitors queued for pizza, vino, and pastries. Gioia joins this legacy of warm hospitality through its contemporary, fun atmosphere. Unexpected material and formal contrasts create a lively and varied environment, from glossy green tile to reclaimed elm flooring, from curving leather cushions to sharp-edged millwork detailing, from ribbed glass partitions to heavy velvet drapery.
With Gioia, we pay homage to the historic characters and traditions of Wooster Square while also embracing a new generation of younger folks and families settling in the neighborhood. Gioia honors the generations of immigrant Italian-American matriarchs that were the heads of families, businesses, and communities in this neighborhood. We continue their traditions through our authentic flavors, warm hospitality and vivacious atmosphere.
