ROSETTA Mexico City

Owner Elena Reygadas describes Rosetta as ‘a living organism’: located in a large mansion in Mexico City’s Roma neighbourhood, the restaurant’s menu is based on seasonality and availability of fresh ingredients.

The restaurant’s set up is composed of different rooms, each space featuring a unique character. ‘I have always thought that there are two Rosettas: one during the day and one during the night. Both have something very special’, observes Reygadas.

Guests dine within a tropical atmosphere by day, surrounded by plants and natural light. At night, subdued illumination contributes to a mysterious, intimate atmosphere. ‘What matters the most is the experience inside the restaurant’, says Reygadas.

‘After the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to transform the third floor of Rosetta into a bar called Salon Rosetta’, continues Reygadas. ‘One of the most important challenges was the lighting. It is a small bar, which I hoped would become a place where everyone would feel comfortable and relaxed.’ Paola José, director of lighting design studio Sombra, created some specially-designed lamps for this space, to bring to life the old Chinese panels covering the walls. ‘These pieces’, continue Reygadas, ‘allow the bucolic scenes of the panels to manifest themselves in the bar as ghostly presences’.

‘In my restaurant, I seek to use a type of lighting that generates pleasant atmospheres and invites customers to enjoy the space. I am not so much interested in having them take great pictures, but rather that they have a fulfilling experience’.