The latest endeavour from Hong Kong-based architect Andre Fu is a two-level contemporary Japanese restaurant sporting a mezzanine level dedicated to a hip sake bar.
Keeping with Japanese tradition, the entrance - an elegant hallway lined with bamboo posts – is an understated affair inspired by the elegant bamboo torii (gates) at an ancient Kyoto shrine. It leads to the first statement dining space featuring a pristine 11-meter-long sushi counter carved out of solid pine. Here, diners are treated to dramatic views over the cavernous main dining-room where Fu has created what he calls a ‘modernist bamboo theatre’ with a series of intimate booths separated by distinctly modern, tall bamboo screens, softly lit with custom-design silk pendants.
The designer’s inimitable appreciation for subdued colour is also on show here, with sumptuous mud orange and cool mineral greys that beautifully complement the natural materials such as bamboo, sand and volcanic charcoal stone. Meanwhile, Japanese lacquer artist Muramoko Shingo’s ethereal installation of suspended red lacquer maple leaves adds a dreamlike quality as they seemingly ‘float’ through the three distinct spaces.
The food is as good as the setting: in the kitchen, the acclaimed Chef Sawada Kazumi serves up exceptional sushi and contemporary Japanese seasonal fare but we think the Instagram-ready sake bar is worth a visit alone for its excellent selection of rice wines.
ADDRESS
Four Seasons Hotel Seoul
97 Saemunan-ro
Jongno-gu
Seoul
-
The story behind Pamela Anderson’s dazzling costumes in ‘The Last Showgirl’‘The Last Showgirl’ costume designer Jacqueline Getty unpacks Pamela Anderson’s outfits in the Gia Coppola-directed movie, which are rooted in the glittering history of the Las Vegas revue
-
Walk through Frinton Park Estate and its Streamline Moderne aesthetic‘Frinton Park Estate’, a new book by photographer James Weston, delves into the history of a modernist housing scheme in Essex, England
-
Mayfair restaurant Silva is a dainty ode to the MediterraneanEnvisioned by Studio Wren, Silva is a dynamic, textural restaurant that reflects nature’s rhythms through its cuisine and design
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu: a soothing onsen hotelIn Japan’s bucolic northeast, Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu breathes new life into a sleepy hot spring village without betraying its ancient roots
-
Shake off the winter chill at these design-led onsen hotels in JapanWhether you’re heading to the mountains of Hokkaido or the alleys of Kyoto’s Gion district, these immaculately designed onsen hotels will keep the shivers at bay
-
The new hotels you’ll want to stay at in 2025Where to stay in 2025? Let six of the most-read-about hotel openings of the past 12 months inspire your escape – from a tiny Tokyo bolthole to a Tanzanian safari retreat
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
-
The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the worldWe round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Yoruya, a Japanese inn where less is always moreYoruya, which transforms a 110-year-old former kimono merchant shopfront and residence in Kurashiki, is an exercise in graceful restraint and craft
-
The coolest design-led coffee shops in SeoulSeoul counts more coffee shops per capita than any other city in the world – cut straight to our six must-visit spots
