KISSA TANTO
Knauf & Brown ©2016

KISSA TANTO

Ste Marie as Architects

Tucked into the upper story of a delightfully faded building in Chinatown, Kissa Tanto invites you into the little jewel that is the House of Plenty. First we will eat! Such supreme satisfaction we take from the delicate flavours of Japan and the warmth of ltalian cooking and feel it’s right to bring these culinary forces together to do a little dance. Why not? Soul mates are they not with their mutual love of noodles, rice, and proteins in their pure, delicious uncooked form? Think of the cool elegant crudo and
cruda, crisp exotic salads, playful pastas, and rich, tender meats that we shall sink our teeth into. And whilst doing so, we will drink! We will wipe the frost off of the Singapore Sling, inhale the burgundy scent of Barolo, sip tiny glasses of fine sake, and down chilly glasses of beer.


And we will laugh, tell stories, escape to soulful places that only great music can take us, and hold hands in dark corners. So please fix your hair and wipe the mud from your boots and please come in.

 

Strategy | Narrative | Concept

Our client had a very specific inspiration for her Japanese-Italian restaurant in Chinatown: the vanishing 1960s jazz café, or jazu kissa of Japan. A distinct sub-culture, people would go to these jazz cafes to just sip whiskey and listen to jazz records play all night. Our goal was to elicit that sense of escape, revel in its moodiness, and transport people to a different place and time.

 

Taking advantage of Kissa Tanto’s second-storey location, we used the faded Chinatown entrance to foster a feeling of departure and discovery; where people would walk up the stairs and stumble upon this dark, eccentric space that looked like it had been left to develop behind the scenes all this time. Doming the low ceiling and bringing the lights down helped us create a fairly dark and moody atmosphere in a space where the bar dominates—something central to its ethos was that it be equally bar and restaurant. Pink vinyl banquettes, tilework based off Haruki Murakami book covers, typographic art taken from a Kenji Miyazawa poem, and touches of Italian modernist Gio Ponti all coalesce here in a social hangout that’s romantic, interesting—perhaps even a bit strange— but wholly singular; a direct counterpoint to the fast-casual, light and airy restaurants that currently dominate the Pacific Northwest.

Products Behind Projects
Product Spotlight
News
Fernanda Canales designs tranquil “House for the Elderly” in Sonora, Mexico
12 Dec 2024 News
Fernanda Canales designs tranquil “House for the Elderly” in Sonora, Mexico

Mexican architecture studio Fernanda Canales has designed a semi-open, circular community center for... More

Australia’s first solar-powered façade completed in Melbourne
12 Dec 2024 News
Australia’s first solar-powered façade completed in Melbourne

Located in Melbourne, 550 Spencer is the first building in Australia to generate its own electricity... More

SPPARC completes restoration of former Victorian-era Army & Navy Cooperative Society warehouse
11 Dec 2024 News
SPPARC completes restoration of former Victorian-era Army & Navy Cooperative Society warehouse

In the heart of Westminster, London, the London-based architectural studio SPPARC has restored and r... More

Green patination on Kyoto coffee stand is brought about using soy sauce and chemicals
10 Dec 2024 News
Green patination on Kyoto coffee stand is brought about using soy sauce and chemicals

Ryohei Tanaka of Japanese architectural firm G Architects Studio designed a bijou coffee stand in Ky... More

New building in Montreal by MU Architecture tells a tale of two facades
10 Dec 2024 News
New building in Montreal by MU Architecture tells a tale of two facades

In Montreal, Quebec, Le Petit Laurent is a newly constructed residential and commercial building tha... More

RAMSA completes Georgetown University's McCourt School of Policy, featuring unique installations by Maya Lin
10 Dec 2024 News
RAMSA completes Georgetown University's McCourt School of Policy, featuring unique installations by Maya Lin

Located on Georgetown University's downtown Capital Campus, the McCourt School of Policy by Robert A... More

MVRDV-designed clubhouse in shipping container supports refugees through the power of sport
9 Dec 2024 News
MVRDV-designed clubhouse in shipping container supports refugees through the power of sport

MVRDV has designed a modular and multi-functional sports club in a shipping container for Amsterdam-... More

Archello Awards 2025 expands with 'Unbuilt' awards categories
9 Dec 2024 Archello Awards
Archello Awards 2025 expands with 'Unbuilt' project awards categories

Archello is excited to introduce a new set of twelve 'Unbuilt' project awards for the Archello Award... More