Oye Kake is located in R City mall, Ghatkopar, Mumbai. Designed by Principal Architect Saniya Kantawala and her team Maryam Jarrahian and Aleekya Medichelimela, this 2000 Sq.ft modern restaurant is an amalgamation of the earthiness of Punjab and a modern Mumbai restaurant. The restaurant design also celebrates Punjabi traditions by deriving its colour palette from Punjab and the logo colours of Oye Kake.
Inspired to innovatively recreate the bangles from the Kamala Mills branch of the same restaurant chain also designed by SKD, the central part of the ceiling is flanked with a subtle bangle installation created with 20,000 bangles to shift the focus to the elements around. The colour palette brings a touch of old Punjab to the space, the origin and inspiration of the restaurant’s cuisine, and complements the bright and vibrant installation creating a balanced and harmonious space.
To bring in the earthiness, the restaurant walls, the counters as well as the open kitchen, have been cladded with rainbow stone, and flushed with paint. The groove between the stone and the painted half of the walls runs throughout the restaurant creating a sense of continuity and pattern.
The accessories of the same follow the same earthy theme. The use of clay lamps and mud pots accentuate the space, creating a variety of interest points throughout the restaurant. In order to create a spot to display the earthen pots as a symbol of the Punjabi heritage of the cuisine, the firm has used cork sheets to design the shelves and stick the pots on them to create feature points spread across the outlet. The colour palette explores various shades of the same colour, restricting the colours to the installation only. A wall graphic has also been installed to bring visuals about Punjab to the restaurant generating a sense of nostalgic awe. The entire wall graphic talks about Punjab and various visual elements that remind one of Punjab such as ladies working back in the day, the golden temple, the mud pottery in mellow tones of mud and more. The installation has been treated with a distressed mud finish around the edges to make sure it doesn’t conflict with the bangle installation which celebrates colour and light.
To generate a seamless aesthetic, the columns have been cladded with simple sandstone that extends all the way to the ceiling highlighting the height and volume of the space. On the other hand, the lower half of the column follows the same wall pattern created by the grooving and the rainbow sandstone. Additionally, the ducts and central air conditioning units are housed in curved organic forms to make sure the space is fluid and avoids corners and boxy details. The service stations replicate the old homes with cutlery and plates placed inside old school shutters and iron bars and the partitions are just simple laser cut partitions to make sure the services stations are subdued and create a dedicated space for the servers.
The restaurant celebrates the rich and diverse culture of Punjab while also offering a modern restaurant dining experience. The restaurant’s design brings out nostalgic memory of the vibrant state through its food as well as its ambience.
