Located in the centre of Paris, the bistronomic space YPSELI is a joint restaurant and deli designed by Trail Practice. The project occupies the ground floor of a historic Beaux-Arts 19th-century building at the 2nd arrondissement, in walking distance from the foodie hub on Rue Montorgueil. The restaurant bridges the expertise of TRAIL on Greek hospitality architecture with the high design and dining expectations of the Parisian market.

A Contemporary Intervention within a Historic Setting

The three co-founders Syméon Kamsizoglou, Delphine Pique and chef Fragiskos Dandoulakis, partnered with the Athens-based architects to infuse authentic Greek hospitality through a tactile journey for the senses. In a firm gesture, Trail Practice inserted a contemporary interior that contrasts with the existing historic shell. Rather than referencing the original architecture, the intervention establishes a distinct spatial identity defined by colour, geometry and movement.

Leaving the historic building base intact, and exposing the concrete blocks that separate the restaurant with the neighbouring spaces, the architects introduce a custom free-standing shelving grid. It develops as a repeatable structure that organizes the deli into a three-dimensional field of display, allowing flexibility, adaptation, and future evolution. This spatial tool in the signature ‘TRAIL’ steel material connects function with narrative, extending the experience beyond the moment of the meal.     

Movement Around a Red ‘Coeur’ 

Conceived as a venue that offers a dining space, a grocery store, a deli and a wine cellar, the multitude of palettes and colors create a truly vivid culinary and retail experience. A pivotal bold gesture introduces a red core as an autonomous spatial insertion.

This striking red base does not function merely as a floor; it constructs an internal microcosm that redefines the experience of the historic envelope. 
The deliberate contrast between a contemporary, monochromatic field and the old shell, creates a dialogue that combines both tension and respect.

Upon this dynamic base, a circular movement is organized around red sculptural volumes that incorporate the restaurant’s support functions. These volumes emerge as spatial events, guiding visitors along a fluid, peripheral route that culminates at the central bar - the social core of the space. Above it, a linear mirror placed parallel to the ground intensifies the theatricality of movement, while also acting as a boundary and connector between the restaurant and the deli, as it reflects activity and visually multiplies the space.

Hospitality is approached as a ritual, and the table as a place of encounter, where community is formed through the spatial and dining experience. The limited area of the space and the strongly paragon shape of the floor plan urged TRAIL to define four axes to optimally organize the  customers’ circulation and the separate areas of the store. In parallel, the large openings of the façade compensate for any lack of space, allowing plenty of natural light to diffuse inside, and urge a constant interplay between the Parisian cityscape and YPSELI’s interiors.

Materials Evoking the Greek Islands

The Parisian Gastrotaverna YPSELI evokes Mediterranean minimalism, combined with the typical marble upcycling and steel details commonly used by Trail Practice. The red floor references the Cycladic island homes combined with ochre tones that evoke Hydra island’s facades, creating a cohesive chromatic environment that carries cultural traces without literal representation. The marble on the bar and tables is sourced from the quarries of Dionysos (white), Tinos (green), and burgundy red (Eretria).

The interiors architecture attempts to translate elements of Greek spatial and social culture into a contemporary architectural language with international resonance. Clearly seen at YPSELI, hospitality and retail branding by TRAIL is embedded in space as a structured system of values. Its cultural identity is transformed into an experience capable of adapting to different contexts while preserving the core of hospitality as a collective, lived event.