The Japanese cuisine at Zama is authentic, yet playful, and the interior compliments this attitude. The design draws from Japanese etiquette to create a space that is in a balanced limbo between casual and formal. The 80-seat space has an eight-seat sushi bar and a 14-seat private room. The unique interior, with varying floor heights, a curved ceiling, and long and narrow layout, called for a treatment to bring the rooms together and create smaller intimate areas. Natural materials and the open, airy layout stress simplicity and warmth. The cosy, enveloping environment is created by the wall-to-wall cedar millwork. The banquets are particularly inviting with head-height lights behind the slats creating a beautiful sun-burst pattern on the tables. These lit cedar partitions sculpt the space into distinct areas like the sushi bar, banquets, and private dining room. The floor is a poured shimmering aggregate concrete, the curved ceiling is lined with playful koi patterned wallpaper, and a hand-made rice paper fish lantern hangs over the sushi bar. A custom metal and rice paper floor lamp creates a focal point at the back of the long, narrow space. The aesthetic at Zama is clean and modern, without being cold or bleak.