Located in London’s Pantechnicon building, Sachi offers a taste of Japan’s local delicacies and the country’s finely honed craftsmanship with a Scandi twist.
The restaurant sits within the foundations of the 18th-century structure’s imposing Doric columns, in the barrel-vaulted lower-ground level of the building, which brings together Japanese and Nordic culture across six floors. Sachi’s menu draws on regional dishes from Hokkaido, Osaka and Fukuoka, made with produce sourced in the UK – including British-grown wasabi.
Photography courtesy Sachi
Photography courtesy Sachi
Photography courtesy Sachi
Photography courtesy Sachi
Japanese culture permeates the restaurant’s interiors, which contrast the building’s bare brick columns with wooden panelling and ceiling beams. Folding paper screens hide private dining spaces, while tables designed by Karimoku Case Study are laid with hand-crafted ceramics, cutlery, chopsticks and wooden bowls made by specialist workshops that have been operating in Japan for hundreds of years.
Plant artist Satoshi Kawamoto was commissioned to create a year-long floral installation at the restaurant entrance, drawing on traditional kimono patterns and cloud formations. ‘Cloud patterns symbolise the admiration for nature, along with representing notions of hope, change, impermanence and proximity to Gods,’ says Satoshi.
London-based studio DEIK, helmed by Susumu Shioya, has also crafted Japanese garden elements for the restaurant interiors that riff on the idea of wa or harmony. At the same time, Tokyo-based artist Ryo Matsuoka’s site-specific paintings hang on the walls.
As well as pork belly, wagyu and toro tuna, the London restaurant serves sashimi, nigiri and maki from its sushi counter, where guests can watch chefs prepare the food. In a nod to Pantechnicon’s dual-cultural Japandi focus, the menu also promises some surprising hints of Nordic flavours and ingredients.
