Now open in London, Pantechnicon is a celebration of contemporary creativity and craftmanship that explores Japanese and Nordic cultures through food, drink, retail and design.
The new shopping and dining hub on pedestrianised Motcomb Street, Belgravia, is at the heart of the Grosvenor Estate and a five-minute walk from Knightsbridge. Behind the original London heritage exterior is a raw warehouse interior.
On entering the building, guests are welcomed into Café Kitsuné (meaning ‘fox’ in Japanese), the first permanent outlet to open in the UK from creative duo, Masaya Kuroki and Gildas Loaëc.
Overlooking Café Kitsuné and The Edit is an intimate but open gallery space hosting Sachi (meaning ‘happiness’ and ‘fortune’ in Japanese), a 20-seat pop-up for lunch and dinner with a menu co-curated by Nancy Singleton Hachisu, author of Phaidon’s ‘Japan’. The gallery pop-up is a preview of the mainstay 100 seat Sachi restaurant, bar, cocktail lounge and street terrace on the lower ground floor, opening in Spring 2021. At the same time, the takeaway ground floor Kiosk will open, serving rotating seasonal specialities typically enjoyed across the exciting local food scenes all over the Nordics and Japan.
On the second floor, inspired by our travels across the Nordics, is Eldr (meaning ‘fire’ in Old Norse), a 70-seat restaurant with seasonal menu showcasing traditional cooking methods; pickling, foraging and cooking with fire.
On the third (top floor) is a 130-seat bar and dining roof garden, an all seasons space with a fully retractable electric glass roof. The garden is designed by Finnish horticulturalist and garden designer, Taina Suoni
Sakaya is an immersive bar and boutique bottle shop tucked away on the east side of Halkin Arcade with a selection of handcrafted Japanese barware, curiosities, spirits and liquors featuring whisky, umeshu and sake selected by Sake Samurai, Natsuki Kikuya.
Barry Hirst, co-founder of Pantechnicon and Open House: “Everyone has an appetite for exploration, adventure and new experiences. We are a group of people who share a passion for travel, culture and hospitality. Together our mission is to have fun creating a platform for new creative talent from Japan and the Nordics and to share our discoveries with everyone, all in one place. Both cultures have a lot in common from their relationship with nature to their passion for simplicity and functionality in design.”
The Edit on the ground floor showcases a curation of 150 Japanese and Nordic brands including handcrafted gifts and products, from designer tech and ceramics to outdoor equipment, footwear and fashion accessories. Exclusives include Japanese brand Hender Scheme’s leather accessories, Sazare’s sleek and slim profile watches, Tokyo-based Aloye’s unisex block print t-shirts, textile-inspired accessories from Antipast, Pia Wallen’s bold minimalist objects inspired by Swedish folk craft techniques and Dane Erik Schedin’s minimally-designed sneakers.
Also available for the first time are Vital Materials’ plant-based skin products, and niche Swedish brand Stora Skuggen’s perfumes that blur the lines between myth and reality. Design lovers can snap up UK exclusives from Nendo, Lena Willhammar, Katriina Nuutinen and more, while further highlights include tokyobikes in collaboration with Pantechnicon; accessories from cult Danish label Aesther Ekme, bags from Porter Yoshida, jewellery by Tom Wood and Shihara and footwear from Suicoke.
The Studio on the first floor brings together a wider range, including a selection of beauty products from Bijo, whose mission is to introduce Europe to the Japanese wellbeing lifestyle. The first floor is a large experiential space where guests will be introduced to emerging brands, artists, creators and makers through workshops as well as retail and dining pop-ups.
