Dining is Theater
Designing the Business of Dining
Dining is theater. Emotion. Ritual. It’s where connection happens across tables, through stories, within moments that linger long after the lights dim.
At Wimberly F&B, we believe that great restaurants aren’t just designed they are choreographed. Every detail moves in rhythm; the pace of service, the flow of light, the sound of laughter, the quiet precision of a kitchen in motion.
We are translators of your vision. Listening deeply, transforming ambitions into experiences that perform, inspire, and endure. Our creativity is strategic. Our passion is intelligent.
We combine design artistry with operational insight to craft restaurants that ignite emotion and deliver measurable value. Whether an intimate independent venue or a global hospitality brand, our work always begins with empathy and ends with excellence.
At Wimberly F&B, authenticity doesn’t whisper – it leads. With fearless flair, we blend cultural depth, artisanal craftsmanship, and bold imagination to create immersive spaces that pulse with life. Every detail is intentional and every story deeply felt, resulting in environments rich with soul, layered with meaning, and designed to endure long after the first impression.
We are translators of your vision. Our creativity is strategic. Our passion is intelligent.
Damien Follone
Leading the Wimberly F&B studio, Damien Follone brings a deep passion for storytelling alongside extensive architectural and interior design expertise.
With a career rooted in hospitality-driven design, Damien approaches each project with a strong conceptual vision and a strategic mindset, ensuring that every F&B environment is thoughtfully positioned from early concept through to final delivery.
The Wimberly F&B team is highly attuned to client objectives, working collaboratively to translate brand values and operational needs into distinctive design outcomes. Each proposal is developed with meticulous attention to detail, ensuring that every element, from spatial planning to material selection, supports the brand’s aspirations and enhances the guest journey.
Central to the team’s philosophy is the analysis of both local influences and global trends, which are carefully interpreted and layered into a cohesive, holistic experience encompassing food concept development, interior design, and tactile detailing.
Ensuring that every element, from spatial planning to material selection, supports brand aspirations and enhances the guest journey.
OUR TAILORED F&B OFFERINGS
Wimberly F&B creates spaces where design, brand, and experience come together seamlessly. We guide each project from concept to completion, crafting authentic and inspiring environments that reflect each client’s unique vision
Interior Design
- Research & Strategy Design
- Concept Design
- Schematic Design
- Design Development
- Construction Administration
- Branding
- On-Site Styling
- Art Curation
- Creative Direction
- Custom Furniture & Lighting
Branding
- Naming
- Mission, Vision, Value Positioning
- Copywriting
- Logo Design
- Brand Guidelines
- Art Direction
- Collaterals & Packaging
- Print Production
- Signage & Wayfinding
- Uniform Design
Experiential
- Fragrance Development
- Sound Collaboration
- Live Music Programming
- Day-to-Night Ambiance
- Operational Standards
Bywater Restaurant, Lusail
Guests are taken on a journey through a series of rooms each with a defined experience: from the cozy lounge bar on arrival and a variety of intimate dining zones in the main dining room, to the outdoor dining terrace and private dining room complete with chef’s table.
[0:06]
Damien Follone, Associate Principal — Wimberly Interiors
We were really inspired by the Waldorf Astoria brand when we created the Bywater restaurant here. Our architecture team at WATG had already begun planning the restaurant space, but the collaboration we developed together was truly incredible. We had the opportunity to move columns around and really create the restaurant from the inside out.
The building is curvaceous, sinuous, and quite sculptural — which is an incredible design opportunity, but it also brings its challenges. We responded to those curves, though designing a functional dining experience within a circular space does present real difficulties.
[0:49]
Another challenge was the curved wall of glazing, which lets in a tremendous amount of natural light. We wanted guests to be able to look out onto the pool and terrace, and we really wanted to allow that natural light to flow into the space and create different atmospheres across different dining experiences.
There are bold black and white graphic moments throughout — in the stone flooring and in some of the joinery. Layered on top of that is a color palette drawn from what you see across Qatar: the desert landscape, the desert vegetation, and that sun-bleached quality brought into the restaurant interior.
[1:34]
When we started to think about the sequence and experience through the space, we focused on creating moments of light and shadow. As guests arrive, the first moment is a really intimate, timber-lined space. They then move through to a beverage experience — tea, Arabic coffee, fresh juices — before continuing into the main dining room, where they are held between the animated kitchen and the views out onto the terrace and pool. This is where the buzz of the restaurant lives. Finally, the signature private dining room offers something altogether more intimate — the feeling of a dinner party.
[2:20]
The Wimberly Interiors signature is really evident here. We approach every project — large or small — with a deep understanding of the identity and personality of the space, as well as the brand aspirations we are working towards alongside our client and our working relationship with Aldo. The story behind this project was truly remarkable. We had built a great deal of trust and faith in the narrative we had told, bringing both the client and the brand on that journey with us from the very beginning and throughout the five-year process. Not only did we earn their trust — we gave ours in return. And I think that is evident in the creation of this space and the significance of this restaurant.
Our Work
Confident, expressive, and alive. Harnessing the artful audacity required to create social destinations that pulse with energy. Every project is an exploration of color, culture, and conversation – a stage for human connection and sensory delight.
- China
Red & Gold Lounge
- Africa
Paper Moon
- Middle East
Spuntino
- North America
Ponto Lago & The Lobby Bar
- China
Yi Whiskey
- China
Plum Blossom-View
- Middle East
Bywater
- China
The Chrysanthemum Dine
- China
The Alpine
- Europe
Mitsis F&B
- Middle East
Onu
- North America
Jeffersons
- China
Qihu Restaurant
- North America
Rice & Gold
Our People
F&B Expertise from Global Studios
Leading the Wimberly F&B teams, Damien Follone brings a passion for storytelling, along with a wealth of architectural and interior design experience, to the Wimberly Interiors team. His design approach and critical thinking ensure that each project is strategically positioned from concept through to delivery, with an emphasis on hotel food and beverage experiences.
Damien Follone
Associate Principal, Director, Wimberly F&B
Erin Nichols Walker
Associate Principal, Wimberly Interiors
Liana Hawes Young
Associate Principal, Wimberly Interiors
Sathis Mendis
Project Director, Wimberly Interiors
Wimberly Interiors: News, Research, and Insights
Storytelling and the Importance of Crafting Food and Beverage Experiences
Damien Follone on weaving narrative, culture, and craft into the design of today’s most compelling dining destinations. Read the article.
- News
Bhavya Kukrety has been appointed Managing Director of WATG & Wimberly Interiors, Asia Pacific
- News
WATG and Wimberly Interiors in the Global Press: June 2026
- News
WATG and Wimberly Interiors in the Global Press: May 2026
- News
WATG and Wimberly Interiors in the Global Press: April 2026
- Project Stories |
- Strategy + Research
Lagen Island Resort, El Nido: Insights before Intervention
- News
WATG + Wimberly Interiors at the LIV Awards 2025.
- News
Hotel Wuxi – Mgallery Collection wins Asia Pacific Property & Hotel Award, 2026-27
- Inside WATG