YORU Japanese-French Cuisine

“INSIGHT - GUAN” Series 3.0

"If embedding the beauty of others, there is a thread of connection, not separation; borrowing the scenery is especially fitting." – The Craft of Gardens (Yuan Ye)

YORU is a Japanese-French fusion restaurant upgraded from the previous Jing Ming site. It shares the courtyard landscape designed by July Design Group with the adjacent Zhiting Sushi. Through reorganization of the landscape interface, Ruhaus Studio maximizes the site's advantages.

Scenery

We opened the north-facing shoji windows, utilizing the existing height difference and curtains to control sightlines and framed views. This allows customers inside to avoid the view of the parking lot cars while enjoying the greenery above. Meanwhile, when looking in from outside, the sightlines are designed to bypass the dining booth area subtly concealed by curtains, offering a glimpse of the central bar and open kitchen operations. Through layered sightline control, the relatively small space gains added depth and a sense of openness.

The private dining area is designed as a glass pavilion extending into the courtyard, enveloped by the courtyard’s landscape. The greenery and sunlight seamlessly penetrate into the restaurant's interior.

Through the space that integrates with the landscape and sunlight, our bodies can sense the distinct rhythm of nature's breath, thereby touching the essence of Japanese-French cuisine—the "feeling of seasonal change." This embodies the spirit of "shun," the Japanese culinary philosophy of "eating in harmony with the seasons."

Function

As this is a renovation project, we chose to largely maintain the exsiting kitchen layout. In the vacant area of the "TSUTA" space, we added a rough processing and cleaning area dedicated to YORU. At the same time, all heavy cooking processes involving smoke are carried out in the back kitchen to ensure the visual presentation of the front dining area remains unaffected. The electrical panel and fire safety systems were not significantly relocated, ensuring that during the renovation of YORU, both TSUTA and Zhiting Sushi could continue their normal operations. The corridor of the previous restroom was moderately narrowed, with part of the space allocated to the wine cellar to accommodate the new restaurant's increased service needs.

Connections

The private dining rooms and the window-side dining area offer stunning views, while the U-shaped counter dining area at the visual center provides an unparalleled experience of close interaction with the two chefs. The sunken kitchen design aligns the chefs' line of sight with the height of the seated guests, allowing for more effortless and natural communication between the two parties.

Serene

The space incorporates a lot of negative space, with the curtains acting as a time filter, allowing plants and light to slowly permeate into the space. This creates a non-temporal environment, a place where one can quietly spend time away from the rush of the world. We chose to use warmer, more tactile materials to layout the entire space, aiming to avoid the sense of alienation brought by industrial products and to reawaken the senses. Most of the wood used in the space is over 10 years old, collected by the client, with countertops made from the heartwood of these aged trees becoming the most significant feature of the bar. The passage of time will gradually smooth and enrich the wood, allowing it to slowly retain the marks of the years. We have integrated the Japanese-French culinary philosophy of "returning to the essence of ingredients" into the design of the space.