Taizu Restaurant

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RHYTHM

Taizu Restaurant

Firm

Baranowitz Amit
PITSOU KEDEM ARCHITECTS

Type

Hospitality + Sport › Restaurant

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2013

SIZE

25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft

After one and a half years of planning, research and construction, Taizu - Asia
Terranean Kitchen has opened its doors with a unique culinary vision and design
concept. Renowned Israeli architect Pitsou Kedem was recruited for the project and
partnered with interior designers Sigal Baranowitz and Gali Amit to add a feminine
element.
Taizu - Asia Terranean Kitchen
A new concept restaurant for Tel Aviv
Designed by Pitsou Kedem Architects and Baranowitz-Amit Design Studio

The interior is rooted in two main themes - the five elements of ancient Chinese
Philosophy (Fire, Water, Metal, Wood and Earth) and the culinary DNA of the menu.
The flavors, textures and colours are based on celebrated chef Yuval Ben Neria’s
personal interpretation of street foods of five countries in South East Asia – India,
China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The restaurant belongs to the fine casual
dining category delivering the highest level of food, design and hospitality in an informal
and accessible setting.

The interior evokes a sense of Asia without being traditional or literal. An underlying
thread connects the design of the space with the chef’s travels through the Far East
and the resulting menu. The organic form and texture of the banana leaf, for example,
is found as a pattern on the concrete walls along the main axis of the space and on tall,
pivoting space partitions.
The space is divided into five main seating areas: a lounge area with an informal set up
of bar stools along a large, custom made slate table, inspired by the communal street-
food set up typical for Asia. A long wine refrigerator, designed for the space with stained
glass doors stretches along the space emphasizing the common aspect.

The main dining space is more formal but the dynamics of the adjacent bar area and
open kitchen balance this formality, adding both energy and movement to the
experience.
The chef room, separated from the main dining space by glass pivoting doors, is a
private as well as an open-to-all dining room. It is sheltered by two walls from bamboo
blocks, which lend the space intimacy and privacy. A large terrace furnished with
custom designed black slate tables and closed off by tall lemongrass plants for their
scent and light movement completes the restaurant.

While much of the finishing on the walls, space partitions and surfaces are designed by the architects, the furniture, comprising custom pieces of Foscarini and Vibia lamps,
Vitra chairs and Boffi appliances, was carefully chosen to be prominent but not
overpowering and to give the spaces a classic contemporary feel.