This week, You! takes a look at the sleek interior of a unique Pan Asian restaurant, recently opened in Karachi...
interior
This week, You! takes a look at the sleek interior of a unique Pan Asian restaurant, recently opened in Karachi...
Karachi’s food scene continues to bloom with new restaurants coming up every day. One new addition, welcomed by sushi fans in the metropolis, is ‘Bonsai ‘whose chic and happening interior is splendid, to say the least.
Afaq Chandna, one of the four partners of the restaurant, narrates how it came into being. “This dream was visualised and had been a result of four friends coming together. We took an oath to embrace the city with our passion of hospitality and practiced our entrepreneurial skills into play. Regardless of having little or no prior experience in this sector, we went ahead with this venture and materialised our dream.”
‘Bonsai’ is not just a Pan Asian restaurant; it is an idea - an idea that will change the way people dine in Karachi. According to Chandna, “We want to provide people a place which is accessible yet secluded, with ample parking, a larger than life ambiance and comfortable seating, yet not compromising on the privacy of our guests. We hired the services of Ahmed Mian and Sehr Aziz as interior designers. Sehr has to her credit having designed stylish, modern spaces like Mews Cafe, LoCo, Cote Rotie and Bella Vita.”
Wanting to know more about the inspiration behind this beautifully designed restaurant, the scribe asked Sehr Aziz what she had in mind when she saw the space. “When we were first approached for the design of a Pan Asian fine dining restaurant, we knew instantly what it was that we didn’t want to do. We were clear that we wanted to stay away from the quintessential go-to themes that most Asian inspired restaurants have. There was to be no RED for one, no bamboo, no backlit waterfall imagery or anything else that vaguely resembled the Forbidden City, golden dragons or great walls,” shares Sehr.
Instead, she chose to focus on the experience of a fine dining restaurant, a place where friends and families come together to enjoy great food and company, and each meal is a memory in the making. “We wanted to bring back the glamour of a five star hotel restaurant; such restaurants typically found their abode in Karachi. We wanted our guests to feel the thrill of stepping into a whole new world, transported from the humdrum of the everyday banal into something they won’t so readily forget,” she explained.
The concept of this place thus began by drawing inspiration from the free flowing form of a water lily pond, or more accurately, from below the surface of a water lily pond. Sehr tells, “We wanted to create a curious and unexpected realm that feels somewhat ‘other worldly’. The colours we were working with were intended to enhance this feeling,” hence you see shades of browns.
However, the location of the plot posed a challenge to Sehr and her team. “Perhaps the biggest challenge we faced was the actual shape of the site, the triangular corner of Khayaban-e-Nishat and Ghazi, with large openings on both sides, one side commercial and the other side facing a residential street. The first move and the most critical one was how to approach the site. We decided to close up almost entirely the commercial side of the plot, with a big blank wall, with a small opening as the entry and one angled window with a planter. This was done to house a large restaurant as a gentle marker on the street,” elaborates Sehr.
Guests enter through this unassuming portal into a small waiting area and concierge, with antique mirrored walls and white panelling and a white marble reception counter, where they are greeted by the host and led through to the main dining space. It is here that the space opens up to reveal the luxurious and surprising interiors in tones of grey, with pops of green and blueberry marble table tops, soft pastels and wooden accents, warm lighting, metal and brass screens, and large windows lined with palms.
“The ceiling and floor pick up curvilinear elements reminiscent of the pond, with an acrylic light installation forming a dancing curve on the ceiling. Tables float like water lilies in the main space, booth seating on the periphery, against a backdrop of larger than life panels of washed out rustic Asian landscapes,” adds Sehr.
Regarding the special features of the restaurant, Afaq Chandna quips, “A well-kept secret at the eatery is their basement. In addition, private parties and gatherings can be easily conducted in there.” On the other hand, Sehr muses, “In stark juxtaposition to the ground floor experience, the basement is envisioned as a minimal, straight lined, modern yet cosy space - dimly lit and more intimate.
The linear form creates order from the intentional chaos of the ground floor and sets the mood for a winter wonderland in Tokyo. A live sushi counter and Teppanyaki station fashioned out of rusted metal and back lit marble welcome you as you descend into the basement floating on glass staircase.” Moreover, the talented designer further shares mirthfully about the basement setting, “A long midnight blue booth forms most of the seating in the basement, with a metal and mirror screen behind and above it. If you wait long enough, you may even see Japanese mobsters pass through.”
Talking about the food at ‘Bonsai’, one needs to be sure to go on an empty stomach as there’s a lot to choose from. “Each dish is unique in its own, and open to discretion at the customer’s liking, though we take great pride in our range of sushi. We serve Japanese, Thai and Chinese all under one roof,” shares Afaq.
