Each item of furniture significantly contributes to a restaurant, café, or bar’s entire aesthetic. As brand expert Mathilde Delatte wrote in the July-August 2025 edition of Hospitality, “Having a vision for a venue’s physical space is crucial from the get-go. The location and interior schemes need to align with the brand.”
“Ultimately,” added Delatte, “the aesthetic patrons discover online or through word-of-mouth should be aligned with the physical space.”
One crucial way a venue can align its word-of-mouth aesthetic with its physical appearance is through tabletops. While it’s easy to dismiss them as merely functional, tabletops have an immediate visual impact on patrons – making them an element vital to first impressions.
Online furniture supply platform Sawce has a variety of timber tabletops available. A spokesperson for the company says timber is a safe choice for a large range of venues because of its variety, durability, and the warmth it imbues on a space.
Sawce’s timber tabletops are customisable, allowing restaurateurs to create a coherent design scheme that is unique to their venue – whether they use reclaimed wood to infuse rustic character, or smooth hardwood with minimalist bases for a contemporary, sophisticated image.
“Whether featuring reclaimed Oregon boards which offer characterful rustic appeal, or premium locally-sourced Tasmanian oak and Victorian ash, they deliver a warm, natural aesthetic that laminate or synthetic alternatives simply can’t match,” says the spokesperson.
For businesses wishing to highlight local provenance, Australian-made Tasmanian oak and Victorian ash tabletops also show a commitment to local craftmanship, which can prove to be a meaningful branding detail.
The tabletops come in a variety of formats and sizes, including squares (e.g., 700 × 700 mm), rounds (e.g., 600 mm, 800mm, 1200 mm), rectangles (e.g., 1500 × 700 mm), as well as made-to-order café-spec rounds and squares, allowing restaurants to create intimate dining nooks with round tops or communal zones with rectangles.
Durability is also paramount, with solid timber built to last and some of the tabletops finished with deep-stain polyurethane and internal metal bracing to maintain beauty and ensure longevity.
“The timeless appeal of real wood adds warmth and sophistication to any venue’s atmosphere,” says the Sawce spokesperson.
Visit Sawce to see its collection of hospitality furniture on sale now.
Photography by Pexels / Cottonbro Studio; Sawce
