Restaurant Design

Yakiniku Master Japanese Barbecue Restaurant - Shanghai, China.

Not being big meat-eaters, we may never become regulars at Yakiniku Master Japanese barbecue, but we do love the design of the chain’s latest, its third, restaurant, opened late last year on Shanghai’s Tianyaoqiao road.

The 300 square-meter (3,230 square-foot) restaurant seats 130 people. It was designed by Beijing-based Golucci International Design, lead by the Taiwan-born, London-trained designer, Lee Hsuheng, with team members Zhao Shuang and Ji Weng.

The interior of Yakiniku Master Japanese barbecue is a harmonious combination of minimalist modern design and references to both Japanese and Southern Chinese architecture and traditions.

I love the use of the wood frame structures of traditional Japanese architecture, and in particular, the oak lattice work or screens that simultaneously divide and unite the restaurant’s various sections.
I also love the half-moon shaped ceiling light fixtures designed by Golucci and referring to small, traditional Chinese boats.

The seemingly random, rectangular patches of meticulously arranged pebbles create cool interest on the floor and resemble a typical Zen-like feature in a Chinese garden.

I like the large, black-and-white mural behind the bar area that shows the beautifully curving silhouettes of typical Chinese roofs.

But most of all we love the stunning, ink-black wall of stacked traditional Japanese barbecue coal. It is absolutely beautiful.

The Rise of The Designer Bakery

La'Opera Restaurant - Paris

French architect Odile Decq (born 1955) and her late partner, architect and doctor Benoit Cornette (1953-1998) have never feared bold, big, challenging projects







She designed the spectacular L'Opéra Restaurant, located in one of the most famous buildings in opera, the 1,600-seat L'Opéra Garnier, on Place de l'Opéra in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris.

The 6 million Euro (about $8.2 million US), three-year-long project was completed this summer. The most significant features of the restaurant are the magnificent glass curtain walls that protect the original stone; the curved structures that define the new space and also create the seating areas and even some of the seating; and the simple use of white and red. The result is both minimal and grandiose, contemporary and historic. From some angles, the curvy structures create a cave-like view, perhaps a reference to the Phantom’s subterranean world.



The building, originally designed by architect Charles Garnier in Baroque Revival style, was inaugurated in 1875. Over the years, it has been known as Opéra de Paris, L'Opéra Garnier, Paris Opéra and L'Opéra Populaire. Its architecture set a new style for opera buildings, and for the next several decades opera houses around the world were built to resemble it.

Concrete Blonde - Sydney

Concrete Blonde is a 100-seat restaurant presided over by chef Patrick Dang who has brought the many nuances of his international experience to the stylish tables of Concrete Blonde.
We love the stunning fireplace, the retro comic-book mural and the clever metal "tin-can" wall slots for firewood. The strong focus on metal evokes thoughts of industrial kitchens and huge dining halls, yet the atmosphere manages also to exude inviting warmth.


As it should be, the best feature of Concrete Blonde is the food. Our recent visit had us face the formidable problem of deciding what to eat. There are many options, plus the menu changes - the chefs here are capable of experimenting and improvising while focusing on freshness, local produce, Berkshire Pork, Murrylands Farm lamb.

 

Sea Underwater Restaurant - Antartica, Kihavah - Maldives

Dining in the sky is so last decade, but how about dining under water? And if submarine supper is your thing, wouldn’t you want to experience it in one of the world’s top diving destinations, the Maldives?

Anantara Kihavah Villas unique underwater restaurant, Sea, is part of a quartet of culinary experiences aptly named Sea, Fire, Salt and Sky — each with its distinctive cuisine, atmosphere and location.

Sea offers Mediterranean buffet lunches and a degustation dinner with stunning views of the sea life in the channel. Sea is also a wine cellar stocked with 250 labels representing 14 countries, and serving more than 20 labels by the glass.

The luxury resort is located on Kihavah Huravalhi Island in the Maldives, half an hour by seaplane from the Male International Airport. Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas is a group of 15 luxury properties in Thailand, the Maldives, Bali and the United Arab Emirates with near-future openings in Vietnam, China, Bali, Thailand and Abu Dhabi. - Bill Tikos

 

Green Restaurant, Tokyo - Japan

 Retail interiors by Chikara Ohno of Tokyo-based architecture and interior firm Sinato are often characterized by elegant simplicity and smart use of light. A great example of this is organic store and restaurant, +green. It is located on the ground floor of a basic concrete-frame apartment building in a residential section of Tokyo`s Jiyu Street, close to one of the city’s largest parks, Komazawa.