Lastly, a members’ membership restaurant price becoming a member of for

Its title that means ‘daylight filtering by way of leaves’, Komorebi is the atmospheric new Japanese restaurant on the biophilic haven that’s The Roof Gardens – the unique members’ membership with an unlimited, verdant roof terrace atop the previous Derry & Toms division retailer constructing on Kensington Excessive Avenue, London.

Lengthy a hang-out of the glitterati, the rooftop gardens and buildings have lived a number of lives: after the division retailer’s closure within the Nineteen Seventies, the positioning was a part of Biba’s trend retailer, then residence to Régine’s nightclub, and later Babylon restaurant underneath Richard Branson’s long-held lease.

Following an in depth restoration, the gardens reopened in 2024 underneath new possession, reasserting their place as one of many metropolis’s most singular elevated addresses. The setting is formed by a lush and different assortment of tree species, and was first planted in 1938 by panorama architect Ralph Hancock, who was additionally chargeable for New York’s Rockefeller Middle gardens.

At present, underneath the motto ‘Head within the Clouds, Toes on the Dance Flooring’, The Roof Gardens is residence to a number of eating and social areas discreetly built-in into the panorama, alongside a cultural programme centred on intimate gatherings, talks, movie, music, and dialog. Komorebi, the most recent restaurant, is purpose sufficient to use for membership.

Wallpaper* dines at Komorebi, London

The temper: between backyard and skyline

The inside is the work of Roman and Williams founders Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer, whose sensitivity to materials, proportion and environment displays a longstanding engagement with Japanese aesthetics. Earlier tasks, together with the Aoyama Constructing in Tokyo, and ongoing collaborations with Japanese artists by way of Roman and Williams Guild and Guild Gallery inform the method.

Mild is the first organising aspect. Flooring-to-ceiling home windows open onto large views of the London skyline, shifting from delicate daylight to nocturnal reflections throughout the town’s façades. A wraparound terrace, opening in spring, overlooks the Woodland Backyard, whereas inside, mild stage modifications and nested eating zones create a way of move with out enclosure. Architectural geometry – faceted ceilings, angular seating and calibrated lighting – anchors the composition.

Materiality leans in direction of the tactile and polished. Velvet banquettes with delicate welting and tufting sit alongside classic Thirties French chairs, reupholstered in silk sourced from historic Japanese mills. Customized stained-glass screens reference each artwork deco decoration and Japanese partitioning, providing moments of separation with out disrupting the room’s visible continuity.

On the centre of the house, an eight-seat omakase counter affords a seasonally responsive menu. Reverse, the again bar introduces a extra graphic notice, with detailing impressed by hikihaku, the standard Japanese weaving method that comes with metallic threads into textiles reminiscent of obis. Tucked behind sliding doorways on the rear, Kumo is a non-public eating room with its personal bar.

The meals: elemental and smoke-kissed

Komorebi’s menu is designed for sharing and discovery, pushed by precision, elements and method. Developed by chef director Tom Griffiths, the cooking strikes between Edomae-style sushi, frivolously smoked produce and mains grilled over binchotan charcoal, rooted in custom and sharpened by fashionable methods.

Plates arrive on beautiful ceramics. Opening snacks set the tone: edamame is reimagined as a crisp kueh pai tee, lifted by inexperienced apple, yuzu, soy and a flash of wasabi. From the small plates, the coal-seared tuna otoro with sesame, peanut and barley miso is a standout, as is the A5 wagyu tataki, lifted by koji and burnt onion ponzu. Mains have a tendency in direction of deeper and smokier flavours. Black cod comes completely glazed, its richness offset by peanut and barley miso, whereas the mushroom rice pot – eringi, matsutake and shiitake – delivers earthy consolation.

Cocktails are dealt with with equal precision. From the ten signature drinks, don’t miss the Fuji, which blends tequila reposado with plum sake, Cocchi Rosa, agave, rose water and Mount Fuji bitters; the Sora, which is darker and extra fragrant, combining darkish rum with buntan pomelo extract, apricot brandy, plum, jasmine syrup and citrus oils. Pair these with the chef’s alternative of usuzukuri, a standard Japanese sashimi method for slicing agency white fish into skinny, virtually translucent items.

Komorebi is positioned at The Roof Gardens, 99 Kensington Excessive St, London W8 5SA, UK