A Dopo Pizza

The owners of A Dopo, an award-winning restaurant serving Neapolitan-style, wood-fired, sourdough pizza, small-batch gelato, wine, beer, and other fare, hired LGA to design the interior architecture for their original location in the front bay of a former paint store in downtown Knoxville. The pizza oven, custom-made by a third-generation oven maker in Naples, serves as the heart of the 2,100 SF restaurant. The 70-person dining room is adjacent to and open to the pizza preparation, reinforcing the connection between server and served.

Additionally, the restaurant includes food preparation, refrigeration, and building support areas such as toilets, storage, housekeeping, and electrical rooms. Just like in their food, the owners are very intentional about keeping things simple, using quality ingredients, and building ties with local businesses. The dining room features a wall mural with the names and logos of neighborhood businesses, many of which, like LGA, participated in the design and construction of components of the new restaurant or who provide ingredients for the restaurant. One adjacent business built the dough counter, and another fabricated the solid oak dining tables.