Defined by its long, slender single-edged blade, and its clean, precise cuts made in a single smooth motion, the elegant Yanagiba knife is all but an extension of a master sushi chef’s hand. In a series of Paris restaurants by Juan Sala and Douglas Harsevoort of emerging Mexico City-based studio Sala Hars, this sophisticated simplicity is channelled into spaces that — like the cuisine itself — embody pared-down yet expressive aesthetic purity with confidence and flair.
It started with Sushi Shunei. Completed in 2021, the elegantly spare one-room restaurant channels the tranquil ambiance of a chapel. Situated on a bustling commercial street in Montmartre, the compact room is immediately distinguished by its spartan yet dramatic frontage. Cut out of a textured plaster wall, a glass gable form announces the space, with the triangular geometry carried through to the ceiling inside.
The simple dining room is defined by its rigorous wood interior and long, angular nine-seat counter that puts diners face-to-face with the chef. While the slanted counter lends the small eatery a greater sense of texture and movement, it also makes for a practical, efficient space. At the door, the composition invokes an entry foyer, making room for diners to be greeted, while the narrower space at the back carves out room for the kitchen — and intuitively guide diners towards the restroom at rear.
Although the room is imbued with monastic calm, the sophisticated 36-square-metre interior takes on surprising depth through a careful play of light across the wood ceiling. “We wanted to create a sort of chiaroscuro effect,” says Sala. Two years later, the opening of Sushi Yoshinaga introduced a twist to the equation. While the restaurants are part of the same hospitality group, the design of each is thoughtfully calibrated to reflect both its setting and the chefs behind the counter.
“We drew a lot on the personalities of the chefs,” says Harsevoort. “At Sushi Shunei, the long counter means everyone’s looking forward, and it keeps the focus on the culinary experience. If you talk too much, it almost breaks the spell — the magic of what the chef is doing. At Yoshinaga, however, the C-shaped dining room means that patrons are also facing each other, which invites a more sociable ambiance, which reflects the gregarious and playful personality of chef Tomoyuki Yoshinaga.”
The effect is again amplified by lighting. At the 59-square-metre Sushi Yoshinaga — which sits above a Sala Hars-designed sake bar — the C-shaped counter is paired with a backdrop of light maple panels and crisp floor-to-ceiling lights. While the illumination energizes an otherwise windowless room, it also frames the space with Sala Hars’ signature play of light and shadow. “At Sushi Shunei, it’s exclusively lit from above, which enhances a tranquil, sensory dining experience,” says Harsevoort. “Here, light comes from every side, social and energetic ambiance. It’s a little bit like a theatrical stage, in the sense that the lighting denotes a foreground and a background.”
The drama is ratcheted up another notch at the newly opened Sushi Hanada. In an 80-square-metre storefront on the Left Bank of the Seine, the moody restaurant is a more pronounced study in light and shadow. “It feels almost like a Caravaggio painting,” says Sala, describing a simple dining room where dark ink-stained wood — treated to evoke Shou Sugi Ban char-treated timber — frames an L-shaped bar. “The other patrons almost fade into an audience at the back of the room, with maybe a glimmer of illumination on people’s eyes. And every object has a kind of halo.”
Here, the culinary experience almost seems to float in the ether. Taking inspiration from the wealth of nearby galleries, including the Louvre directly across the river, the simple space is elevated by careful, precise lighting, which fades the background into a painterly glow. It makes the little room seem almost infinite.
A Trio of Expressive Sushi Restaurants Lands in Paris
Mexico City-based designers Sala Hars combine a rigorously streamlined materials palette with intricate play of light and shadow in the French capital.