This Hong Kong Restaurant Takes Inspiration From Zen Gardens

Causeway Bay south of Hennessy Road in Hong Kong is home to some of the city’s most popular dining establishments, with seasoned restaurateur Paul Kwok of 1957 & Co. responsible for hotspots including An Nam and Gonpachi. After dining at Miyoshi, he convinced its chef Tsutomu Ito to launch a relaxed Japanese brasserie edition of the Kyoto kaiseki restaurant to Hong Kong. 

Kwok looked to architect Yacine Bensalem, founder of Hong Kong-based In Situ & Partners, to design the 4,100-square-foot GYU+bar by miyoshi. Sited on the fourth floor and bisected in the middle by a common corridor, the two halves of the 80-seat restaurant wrap around a central atrium flooded with natural light during the day. “We couldn’t ignore the circularity—so we embraced it to create two spaces in dialogue with one design language,” says Bensalem.

Inspired by the Japanese concept of ensō and the elegant simplicity of raked Zen gardens, the counter and table height dining areas are united by intersecting circular plans. The bold geometry reverberates throughout, picked up in red lacquer discs above the private dining room table, motifs on wall panels, and custom artwork. Snaking bars offering views into kitchen grills are gently lit by a cornice of wooden lanterns screened with washi paper to create intimacy. Metallic mesh screens finished in aged bronze act as a permeable separation between the open dining area and the atrium corridor.

Acknowledging its sister restaurant in Kyoto, the color red dominates in the suede upholstery on custom designed barstools and chairs. Yakisugi, a charred wood historically used outdoors, clads walls and surfaces. The wine cellar near the entry doubles as a retail space and is finished in textured black granite, with the material reiterated as continuous bases beneath the bars. In contrast, gold leaf adorns the dining booth’s arcing backdrop and wall panels in the private dining room. “The polarity between rough and precious materials evokes the moodiness of Gion at night,” says Bensalem. “The light and dark are sources of emotion, adding to the contrast between lunch and dinner experiences.”