Kissa Tanto
Kissa Tanto is an Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant in the Chinatown neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The restaurant's interior is inspired by the mid-century modern design movement, with curved banquettes, banker's lamps, extensive use of maple and walnut, and polished brass fixtures.
Kissa Tanto serves a modern fusion of Italian and Japanese cuisine, a pairing that appears unusual, but has some historical and culinary basis.
The fusion style is flexible and intuitive; traditional ingredients from each cuisine are added to dishes from the other as required rather than attempting to follow a strict formula.
Since its launch, Kissa Tanto has garnered positive reviews for its romantic, retro-style design philosophy and innovative menu.
Marie, the Vancouver-based studio which designed Bao Bei, as well as other Vancouver restaurants such as St. Lawrence, Savio Volpe and Ask for Luigi.
[4][5][11] The red brick building, with its jade-green Chinese-style roof tile, was left in its original condition of slight disrepair.
[20] The restaurant's interior is inspired by the mid-century modern design movement, also paying homage to the work of Italian architect Gio Ponti.
[6][8] Aesthetically, it references the jazz cafes which inspired its name, with specific homage to the famous Hotel Okura Tokyo.
[8] The pixellated design of the floor tiling draws inspiration from the John Gall paperback covers of Haruki Murakami novels.
[2] Food critic Pete Wells of The New York Times compared the color palette, which incorporates raspberry, blue-green, and royal blue, to that of a David Lynch film.
[5][13] Mid-century decorative elements include curved banquettes, banker's lamps, extensive use of maple and walnut, and polished brass fixtures.
"[18] Kissa Tanto serves a modern fusion of Italian and Japanese cuisine, a pairing that appears unusual, but has some historical and culinary basis.
[23] Alexandra Gill of The Globe and Mail found that many dishes, such as the chilled vegetable platter, "speak fervently to Vancouver.
"[24] Discussing the reception of the cross-cultural menu, Watanabe said "We’ve had a lot of compliments from Italians," and "Japanese people think it’s odd, but they love it.
"[5] In Condé Nast Traveler, Guy Saddy wrote "Much like the room itself, the patrons here are dressed for dinner—in a hip, never formal, way.
EnRoute magazine stated, "Watanabe proves that Italy and Japan are natural bedfellows, married by a shared love of noodles, mushrooms and umami.
"[26] For the Vancouver Sun, Mia Stainsby said that the combination was "a route on which [Watanabe] could drive off a cliff without a sixth sense about balance and harmony.
"[6] The review in Monocle stated "It’s testament to Watanabe’s finesse that ingredients and techniques from two different cultures can come together seamlessly and, indeed, enhance the best aspects of each other.
"The food of Kissa Tanto," she wrote, "signals a burgeoning desire for fiercer creativity, conviction, and volume; for, well, more.
