The Snack Top as the Heart of the Kitchen: Ulisse Narcisi’s “Happy Island” for Rastelli’s R1 Collection

In the rhythm of contemporary homes, the kitchen is no longer just a backdrop for hurried breakfasts or quiet dinners. It has become the centre of gravity, the place where conversations start, where children spread out homework, where friends linger longer than they planned. Within this shifting landscape, Ulisse Narcisi’s vision for the R1 collection imagines the “happy island,” and at its heart sits the snack top, a piece of design that is at once modest and transformative.

Once conceived as a simple preparation surface, the snack top now holds a different kind of intimacy. It takes the place of the dining table in many homes, becoming the stage for morning rituals, afternoon snacks, late-night chats, and the easy sociability of aperitifs. Elevated at ninety centimetres, paired with stools or high chairs, it blurs the line between worktop and gathering spot, between function and fellowship. Narcisi himself describes it with the ease of someone who understands the rhythms of everyday life: you eat alone or with company; the same surface becomes a desk, a resting place, or a spot to watch TV or talk about nothing in particular.

Design here is not rigid; it is responsive. The snack counter adapts to routine, and that adaptability mirrors the essence of contemporary living. Materials and finishes are chosen not just for aesthetics but for the mood they create. The brushed elm top with porcelain insert offers a round softness, a gesture of conviviality. The rectangular oak Matrix version with its bold Corinto Nero leg brings contrast and elegance, wood against darkness, and warmth against depth. There is a dialogue in these surfaces between natural grain and refined porcelain, between clean geometry and expressive detail.

Rastelli’s happy island becomes the heart of the home, not as a metaphor but as a reality. The snack top gathers the family without formality and opens the kitchen into the living space without fracture. It holds vitality in its lines, balance in its proportions, and a quiet generosity in its ability to shape-shift from solitary breakfast nook to social anchor.

The snack top doesn’t just blend in quietly. In a small apartment, it tucks itself into a corner and still manages to hold the family around it. In larger homes, it stretches out with confidence, becoming the spot where everyone ends up gathering no matter how big the living room is. It isn’t about size; it’s about gravity. People lean on it, leave their coffee cups behind, and pause for a quick chat before heading out. What was once only a surface for chopping vegetables now pulls life toward it, without ever asking for attention.