Pan Milano by Studio Wok

Studio Wok Pan Milano Photo Simone Bossi Yellowtrace 11

Studio Wok Pan Milano Photo Simone Bossi Yellowtrace 16

My perfect Sunday consists of a slow lazy brunch at the local bakery cafe, eating freshly baked croissants and picking up a loaf of sourdough to carry me through the week. Follow this up with a late lunch at a trendy new restaurant and a boozy few hours at the wine bar down the road, and you’ve capped off your week quite well. But what if all these places were in one spot? Pan Milano by Studio Wok is a hybrid bakery, restaurant and bar—exactly the kind of one-stop Sunday spot we have all been dreaming of.

With a material palette of jade green, greys and woody tones, there’s something almost Japanese about this Milanese venue. “Much like their Japanese Chefs, Yoji Tokuyoshi and Alice Yamada, the architecture references Japanese culture in a non-literal way that is far from stereotypes”, explains the team at Studio Wok, explaining how their “intention was to add a layer of deeper understanding without the references becoming too invasive”. Instead, they focused on the quality of materials and details.

Embodying themes of durability and rarity, Jade is a stone that represents lasting beauty—a theme Studio Wok has seamlessly translated into this new neighbourhood hotspot. Across a largely grey, concrete-heavy space, it is the threads of jade-green elements that bring Pan to life. Green fibreglass grid panels are used extensively, taking on the forms of bench seats, counters and display walls.

In the bakery, a green island stands monolithically in the space, welcoming visitors with its striking gridded form. Facing the largely glass front facade, Studio Wok notes how the fibreglass island “is a small piece of architecture built to interact with the natural light” that floods into the bakery. Low bench seats line the base of the windows, inviting visitors to inhabit the facade while enjoying their Sunday morning croissants within the green glowing bakery.

Beyond, the bar “turns towards more sober nuances”, says Studio Wok. Through “embracing darker black-stained chestnut woods”, this space becomes a juxtaposition to the lighter more translucent atmosphere of the entry. Wedged into clean concrete walls, slabs of the darker joinery resemble chunks of charcoal lodged into cave walls. Looking to traditional water-filling rituals, Studio Wok wanted to “celebrate imperfect beauty and introduce an almost spiritual atmosphere”. A natural stone boulder forms the base for the tap at the restaurant’s water station.

Moltrasio stone in the bathroom also leans into the idea of embracing natural materials, while walls of translucent green panels in pressed cellulose form a space that Studio Wok describe as “a green monochromatic box”.

Common threads across all the key spaces include stainless steel furniture; almost like a silver earring among the charcoal and jade gemstones scattered throughout the spaces. The most elegant feature, however, hangs overhead; referencing Japanese noren, bands of white fabric dip-dyed green form layers of ceiling drapes that Studio Wok refer to as a “suspended three-dimensional world, both continuous and ephemeral”.