Ganso Shabuway

          Japanese cuisine has long been a staple of the Manila restaurant scene. To the point that each Japanese restaurant specifies which category of Japanese cuisine they fall under. Ranging from Ramen, Sushi, Tonkatsu, Teppanyaki, etc… One mainstay would be the Shabu-Shabu restaurant, a concept in which a hot pot of broth and vegetables is placed and heated at the center of the table, and the diners can then cook their meat of choice in the broth right there and then. 

          Nestled in the upscale Greenbelt 5 shopping mall, Ganso Shabuway has been the go-to Shabu-Shabu restaurant in Manila since 2011. We had the privilege of working on their restaurant to achieve three things. First to create an environment that is welcoming and emulates a feeling of being at home. Secondly they wanted to update their aesthetic without taking away from their Japanese roots. And lastly to give their customers a solid visual experience to go along with the symphony of flavors coursing through their taste buds. 

          In order to create a welcoming environment, especially for the diners who are just arriving, we utilized beam angles to push the light shining inward in order to accentuate the ambience of the restaurant. Additionally we chose a lighting temperature that started at around 3000k to further emphasize the cozy atmosphere we were trying to help create. 

           With respect to Ganso Shabuway’s aesthetic objectives we wanted to put an emphasis on simplicity. We were able to achieve this by using an elegant yet purposeful pendant fixture, combined with strategically placed track lights on the ceiling. By doing so we were able to adequately light in a minimalistic manner. 

          This tied in to creating a visual experience for the diners. While the Shabu-shabu experience is also a visual one, we wanted to heighten that experience for Ganso Shabuway’s diners. Here we altered the beam angles on the track lights to point towards the hotpot that's found in the middle of every table. Enabling diner’s to have a much more vivid view of what they were preparing, as well as to make the food stand out. Hotpot Cuisine uses several different vegetables and spices, together with the meat, which makes for a very colorful dish, and we really want to make that stand out not only emphasize the aesthetic, but also to display the freshness of ingredients.