Life.Culture.Discovery.

The Japanese salaryman inspires a restaurant in Hong Kong: what’s the story?

Ben McCarthy, the founder of Hong Kong-based design firm Charlie & Rose, talks about weaving a narrative through the quirky, retro-futuristic interiors of Sheung Wan restaurant Honjo

2-MIN READ2-MIN

The interior of Honjo restaurant, in Sheung Wan, designed by Hong Kong-based studio Charlie & Rose.

Published: 10:30am, 12 Nov 2019Updated: 11:24am, 18 Nov 2019

The Interpretation

“The brief was for a high-end Japanese-restaurant experience. We did a lot of work with the client on what that meant – whether they wanted a traditional, minimal Japanese restaurant or if we could look in other directions, which for us meant trying to tell a story.

“We developed a narrative around a Japanese salaryman and that image of the salaryman asleep on the train. It’s the story of what he is dreaming his life is like. Honjo is essentially his house, so there are bits of Bruce Wayne, that English-style manor house and things he might have collected travelling the world. We developed it further to bring in Japanese elements without being obvious and to move away from the typical, restrained Japanese aesthetic. We thought we’d have a bit more fun with it.

“It’s a series of rooms, and this allows us to provide people with a different experience every time they come. We tried to make it all really tactile with lots of details and things to discover. You might not notice it all the first time you are here, but hopefully you will the second or third time.”