A harmonious setting

Since 2020, the Japanese restaurant and bar Ta-kumi in Marbella has been welcoming its customers in a setting that is worthy of the culinary offerings prepared by two renowned chefs, the Japanese Toshio Tsutsui and the Spaniard Alvaro Arbeloa. In this location they have created a successful professional and cultural fusion based on a shared mission: a quest for high-quality products and excellence in terms of food preparation and presentation techniques. The same degree of care has clearly been devoted to the space where the food is prepared and consumed. As the architects from the firm Paco Lago Interioriza who carried out the restyling project explain, “Despite Ta-kumi’s excellent reputation, the interiors were simply not up to the standard of its cuisine”. Their project aimed “to offer customers a complete sensorial and perceptive experience in addition to fine dining” and has further boosted the restaurant’s popularity despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic. The project also integrated the terrace with the restaurant by creating a volume with large windows that conveys the sensation of an outdoor space.
The neutral colours, custom furnishings, acoustics and lighting were all designed to create a comfortable and memorable dining experience in a harmonious and orderly environment. The lighting plays a key role and serves to enhance the visual presentation of the dishes and create a relaxing atmosphere by combining natural and artificial, direct and indirect light. To ensure maximum visual and perceptive comfort, the lighting coordinates with all the materials and surface coverings, such as the wood wool ceiling panels which combine an attractive finish with excellent acoustic and thermal insulation as well as fire resistance characteristics.
The choice of colours and materials was inspired by the iconic Japanese kitchen knife, a key element of the country’s culinary culture whose components are evoked through references to wood, stone and metal. At the same time, the design choices had to satisfy precise hygiene and functionality criteria. All the internal joinery was custom made in Bosse wood with attention to the special rounded design, together with oak tops varnished with an extra-matt finish to protect the surface. The material chosen for the floor covering was the Form tile collection in the Cement colour from Ceramica Sant’Agostino, a porcelain tile that recreates the surface of raw concrete and reveals the patterns of wooden formwork. As the designers explain, “we wanted to give it the same meaning as the culinary offerings, which may be raw but are pure and beautiful in their essence”.