KAI Interiors were approached by Michelin starred chef Peter Joseph to design his first solo venture restaurant. Taking a lead from the concept of sharing food and swapping stories, essences of Indian stories and fables have been scattered around the restaurant, this led to the name ‘Kahani’ meaning stories in Hindi. Set in the beautiful Sloane square near to Cadogan Hall you will discover a deep green set of double doors nestled into the classic architecture of Wilbraham Place.
Taking care to balance design features without detracting from the food, the space is warm and welcoming.
As you enter, you see a beautiful upholstered wall that is made of soft blush, woven leather, this leads guests down the stairs. Indian antiquities and Kavaad [Indian story boxes] line the steps. You pass a warm mustard velvet curtained private dining room that is completely based on India’s national bird, the peacock. It’s a luxurious room in deep blues and greens. A large deep blue leather table top with brass trim, fills the room. An elegant slim brass chandelier sits above creating a cosy environment in which guests can enjoy a unique experience with Kahani’s best wines and culinary delights. The ceiling is filled with an imprint of millions of miniscule beads laid out in an elegant weaving pattern. The chairs are deep blue velvet with a woven leather backing.
Bespoke wallpaper, beautifully hand drawn by the team at Lyons and Tigers Creative Agency hangs as a backdrop to the room.The private room overlooks the main restaurant space with a balcony style mezzanine level. From above you might be able to notice the K within the flooring. The timber floors are laid in different angles with brass trims to make out a K for Kahani.
The back wall of the restaurant space is home to the extensive wine cellar, exposed through a huge wall of glass for guests to enjoy.
As you go down the stairs further, you enter into the main restaurant that opens out to a double height ceiling with beautiful bespoke, suede ribbon chandeliers. On the left there is one of KAI’s favourite features, a beautiful mosaic wall. This involved mixing a special render too obtain the exact colour, then meticulously hand placing the small, square mosaic tiles piece by piece into a pattern that was taken from Indian architecture. Sat in line with the mosaic wall is beautiful dusty teal velvet seating embellished with Indian embroidered ribbon.
The room dividers give privacy to the bar area with a peacock feather embossed glass and timber panel. Sat in the back corner is the original fireplace with cosy armchairs and a traditional Indian carved table. Somewhere to relax after a meal and enjoy one of the many whiskeys or cognacs they have to offer.
One of the challenges was finding a balance between making the interiors exciting and welcoming but without detracting too much from the food and drink. Peter’s food is amazing, it’s so colourful and we had to think about how it would look on the table.The edge of the tables were etched with a henna pattern which linked with the bespoke henna style wallpaper we had hand drawn by Lyons and Tigers Creative Agency. If you look closely you can follow several fables within the wallpaper.
We’ve used warm colours in the upholstery that don’t detract and kept the walls quite neutral, we wanted to ensure hints of India enrich the space.
The toilets are intimate yet exciting spaces. Taking inspiration from a colourful pattern painted on a wall in India.The pattern was filled with hands poised in different positions replicating the Mudras, rich greens and soft pinks covered the walls. Terrazzo basins echoed the colours from the walls, matched with elegant brass taps.
One of the more private dining nooks within the space is filled with a delicate silk wallpaper with multi-coloured sari threads running through it. Rich terracotta velvets adorn the fixed seating and a bamboo edge table.
The bar, meanwhile,has been modelled on Chand Baori, which is a beautiful step well of 3,5000 narrow steps built over a thousand years ago in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Textured wallpapers are a back drop to the brass cantilevered steps that appear to be floating whilst displaying the premium alcohol offering. Elegant tubular pendant lights glow above the bar counter which is timber with marble infill’s.The bar façade is a unique herringbone veneer which gave a subtle nod to the back bar steps.
An open kitchen gives a sense of theatre to the space and allows customers a glimpse behind the scenes and to watch Peter in action using the Robata Grill.