Amsterdam-based designer Pien Barendregt, founder of her eponymous Pien Studio, has garnered the adoration of design connoisseurs with her one-of-a-kind collection of accessories and objets d’art. Barendregt’s textile design background brings a tactile richness to her work, where tradition meets modernity. Today, she reveals her must-visit spots in Bologna, the pantry staple she turns to for quick, impromptu snacks and a ritual that helps shape her creative process.

A snack

Anything with anchovies! I love a good skewer with an olive, pickle, a green pepper and on top an anchovy. This also works well with a bloody mary ;).

Bologna tips

I recently discovered Bologna, which felt like a small and less crowded version of Florence. Surrounded by wooden paneled walls, framed textiles and colourful flags, your table at restaurant Da Silvio gets filled with the best antipasti once you sit down. Hotel Panorama is an affordable hotel in the middle of the city which reminds me of a house of an old italian grandmother, that makes you feel at home immediately!

Ritual

If you're looking for a creative form of meditation, I can highly recommend weaving! Buy some yarn in the colours you like and then start weaving without a plan. Once you get the hang of it, it's so much fun to see where your textile weave takes you.