Zen: the contemporary, speciality restaurant at The Park, Kolkata highlighting the Jewels of the Orient. Applying their trademark Asian minimalist flair to the décor, designers Conran & Partners, London, UK has successfully introduced the unusual design concept of overlapping petals of a lotus flower, leading to the idea of layers and screens, and the way the restaurant opens up in a sequence of s
paces. Vijay Dewan, Managing Director, The Park Hotels says, “The new Zen is a new experience. Spectacular design, spectacular style and spectacular food.”
The design of the restaurant begins with a minimalist and monochromatic theme, but gradually veers towards something really plush with an air of enforced exclusivity. Transiting down the long waiting alley from the entrance resembling a shady forest path, with lights entering through the twisted fins from the restaurant, the search terminates at the natural polished wooden hostess desk and from here the first space of the restaurant is fully visible. This room contains three large square tables each seating eight people. They are illuminated by glowing glass and silk light columns hanging from the ceiling. In the center of each table is a shallow glass pool containing white lotus flowers. Behind a solid black and gold Chinese patterned silk partition lies a fourth table for further privacy. The main restaurant space has been resurrected to enact a vibrant, attractive “Theatre of food”. The all-open kitchen with a white marble Japanese bar counter, acts as the centrestage of the “cooking theatre”. Different section of the “theatre” features a distinct genre of cuisine. At each section of the beautiful show kitchen celebrated Chinese, Japanese and Thai chefs are present to put up a culinary performance to the guests. Diners can choose to get up-close to the buzz of activities by the theatre on the elevated seating at the Japanese bar counter, serving sushi and teppanyaki or seat themselves in one of the restaurant’s many intimate corners on the fringe, that are semi-enclosed by dramatic curtains of crisscross timber battens and columnar lights. A natural textured colour palette of black, bronze, cream, gold and a few vivid green accents inspired by Zen simplicity dominates the restaurant. Walls clad in grey slate, solid teak in a parquet
floor, black anodized aluminium used to create the dynamic contemporary screen of twisted fins along two sides of the restaurant, etched glass windows all contribute to the subtlety of the interiors with in graduations of earthy hues. The design invests highly on lighting effects, eliminating the excessive bright lights that frazzle many restaurant interiors. Pre-programmed lighting systems are instead employed to capitalize on exterior views, while illuminating the theatre as stunning island of glass, stone and steel by night. Visit us at www.theparkhotels.com
