PRESS RELEASE: Zen Restaurant at the Park Hotel Kolkata

Forming part of Conran & Partners' ongoing phased renovation of the Park Hotel Kolkata, our third venture for the Park Hotel Group, 'Zen' restaurant reopened its doors in December with a brand new look and menu.

Originally opened in 1992, Zen was already an established venue in Kolkata. The Park Hotel Group asked Conran & Partners to update its rather formal design in order to give it a fresh, relaxing and elegant look.

Initially inspired by the overlapping petals of a lotus flower, Conran & Partners’ concept for ‘Zen’ is informed by the idea of layering and screens. The restaurant comprises a sequence of spaces which overlap and reveal one another through lighting, materials and vistas.

The restaurant is entered via a linear space reminiscent of a shady forest path. Light penetrates by way of slots in an etched glass window, and through a series of twisted fins, which divide the space from the restaurant. A translucent fabric canopy, printed with abstract overlapping leaves, continues the forest ambience.

On arrival at the greeting desk, the first space of the restaurant is revealed; here, three large square tables, each seating eight people, are illuminated by glowing glass and silk light columns hanging from the ceiling. In the centre of each table is a shallow glass pool containing white lotus flowers. A solid partition, of black and gold Chinese patterned silk, hides a fourth table for private parties.

The Park Hotel Group asked Conran & Partners to create a ‘theatre of food’ for their Asian-fusion style menu. The main restaurant space is found beyond timber screens. A white marble Japanese bar, serving sushi and tepanyaki dishes, takes centre stage. Behind this is an open kitchen, where customers can see the Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes being prepared.

Nature is found in all of the details of the scheme with a simple materials palette of stone, timber and metal. Colours include black, bronze, cream and gold, with a few vivid green accents.

Solid teak is used in a parquet floor, in Chinese patterned screens, in bar tops and tables. The restaurant walls are clad in grey slate and black anodised aluminium is used in a dynamic contemporary screen of twisted fins, which runs along two sides of the space.

The restaurant seats 80 people in a mixture of contemporary Chinese and Scandinavian furniture, with teak dining chairs, and green and bronze upholstered armchairs.

Currently on site, the transformation of the 150-bedroom Park Hotel Kolkata will include the redesign of all bedrooms, the lobby and façade. Conran & Partners will also be adding a street café and 2 further first floor restaurants with private banqueting facilities.

For more information please contact: Emilie Lemons, Conran & Partners: cp@conranandpartners.com

February 2008

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