Gather outside, inside. Located within USA outdoor retail store Snow Peak, Takibi restaurant brings diners together around an open fireplace, inviting communion with the outdoors, indoors. Form is function in a wood-fire restaurant; for Takibi it is also spectacle, ambience, and focal point for dining in community. All 75 seats have a sightline to the large open fireplace, which is flanked by subtly reflective tile—repurposed from kilns used by artisanal tile maker Heath Ceramics.
We worked to find opportunity in challenging existing conditions: a 1980s nondescript building with low ceilings. The design leans into the sunken grade, utilizing the below-ground elements to create an earthy, cozy environment in which to dine. Framing the low soffits is a low-key echo of the brand’s Japanese origins, recalling the deep eaves of vernacular farmhouses. Traditional Japanese wood tectonics are honored with a contemporary American spin: century-old repurposed local Douglas Fir beams were custom milled and stacked into a unique wall retail fixture system.
