Neri & Hu have designed an izakaya – a Japanese eating and drinking den – for chef Jason Atherton’s latest venture, Sosharu, in London’s Clerkenwell.

The restaurant is his eighth in the capital and comes two months after the opening of his first Sydney joint, also designed by Shanghai-based studio Neri & Hu.

Sosharu is the chef and restaurateur’s first foray into Japanese cuisine, and the dining space similarly takes cues from the Far East.

Atherton described it as ‘a complete departure from anything I’ve done before’.

A timber structure inspired by traditional Japanese minka houses frames Sosharu’s main dining space upstairs.

Downstairs in the basement of the 5,500 sq ft Clerkenwell space is the 7 Tales cocktail bar, which channels Tokyo’s dive bars with its neon signs and Japanese pop culture iconography plastered on walls.

A 10-seat tasting counter called Kisetsu – meaning ‘season’ – will open soon on the ground level, with interiors changing seasonally as per its name.

The restaurant is housed in the Turnmill building, completed last year and designed by architects Piercy & Company.

Atherton has another three restaurants coming up, adding to his growing global empire: two in London and an imminent opening in the Philippines.