Tokyo Tina Private Dining Room by Ewert Leaf.

Ewert Leaf have completed Tokyo Private, an adjoining Private Dining space to the Chapel Street restaurant Tokyo Tina. The space is centred around a large communal dining table that seats 26 patrons, handcrafted from maple burl.

Taking cues from the design of old train carriages, the walls are covered in linen curtains, wall lights and custom brass detailing to create a sense of nostalgia. The combination of the existing raw textured walls and new locally manufactured custom carpet creates a unique juxtaposition of old meets new. New doors and windows create a connection to the adjoining restaurant, allowing patrons to catch glimpses of the flurry of activity between the yellow textured glass.

The project utilises much of the existing building fabric, such as retaining raw, distressed brick walls, to highlight the beauty of the site, while negating the need to introduce new materials.

“We collaborated with a local joiner to create the centrepiece of the space, a custom maple burl table,” explains the team. Being a tough hardwood, it required a lot of precision on the joiner’s part. “We produced design intent joinery documentation where the maple burl is cut and positioned at different wood grain angles to create dynamic movement across the 7.2m long table,” elaborates the design team.

Not only a tricky timber to work with, the maple burl was difficult to source as a lot of suppliers were no longer stocking it. Integral to the design aesthetic thought, the team persevered and ended up finding a local source.

If it can get any better, complimentary karaoke is provided with your booking to sing the night away.

Moonhouse Restaurant in Balaclava by Ewert Leaf.

Looking to both the Art Deco movement in 1920s Shanghai as well as modern Chinese architecture, sweeping curves...

[Images courtesy of Ewert Leaf. Photography by Jenah Piwanski.]