A Japanese Restaurant with Filmic Qualities
Design studio Russell & George has created a futuristic interior with coloured film and neon lights at new Melbourne eatery Yakimono
Image by Parker Blain
Yakimono is a fully charged flash of mirrors, lenses and 3D effects. With its oversized graphic signage, the restaurant is unmissable — a neon rainbow of colour housing the newest venue by renowned restauranteur Chris Lucas. The unique building is a striking presence, spanning three storeys including a rooftop bar. The first floor features a bustling flame-grill kitchen with a bar, the second has booths for socialising with a sake.
‘The brief was for a late-night izakaya that’s loose and fun, and a mish-mash of Japanese and Western sensibilities. It needed to be lively and youthful,’ says architect Ryan Russell of architecture and design studio Russell & George. A major movie buff and self-confessed Japanophile, Russell drew on cultural references as well as elements of the film Blade Runner 2049 for the interiors. ‘We applied 3M Dichroic film to the glass, so it constantly changes colour depending on where you stand and where the light hits. It’s like a polarised lens,’ Russell says. His background in set design informed the dramatic, filmic quality of the space. ‘The shifting colours — from blue to orange to pink — transform the mood and the setting. It completely distorts the perception of self and offers a different experience wherever you sit.’
While the interiors are futuristic, they’re tempered with softer elements like European oak benchtops and Ross Didier’s timber Gunzel stools. The concrete shell and changing LED light strips over the stainless steel bar create a watery, abstract reflection on the ceiling that Russell says evokes ‘neon light hitting the pavement in Tokyo’.
Through extensive research and prototyping, Russell and business partner Byron George explored the possibilities of amplifying colour and transparency for a playful effect. The cutting-edge interiors are echoed in the progressive fusion menu, which reinterprets Japanese street food with an Australian sensibility. Pulsing with energy and pumping music, the high-energy restaurant is, as Russell says, ‘very Instagrammable’, and the designers say they ‘love observing how people behave in the space’.
Text / Carli Philips
Image by Parker Blain
Image by Tom Blachford
Image by Tom Blachford
Image by Tom Blachford
Image by Tom Blachford
Image by Tom Blachford
Image by Tom Blachford
Image by Tom Blachford
Image by Tom Blachford
Image by Tom Blachford