Crafting a Parsi Designed Restaurant

Designing a restaurant with utmost detail is important. People these days go to a restaurant not just to have food but to relax and enjoy the ambience. Hence, it is becoming very important for designers to keep an eye on every minutedetail before designing a place. As they say, people eat with their eyes first!

Jumjoji, a Parsi restaurant located at The Orb- JW Marriott Sahar, Mumbai, is designed by the Malcolm Daruwalla, Principal Architect of the Seedle DC Group that has designed some of the luxury retail and restaurant spaces, homes and gyms in Mumbai.

The interior and decor of Jumjoji has been created with an aim to showcase Parsi culture in its most authentic form. The design elements of Jumjoji present the rich heritage, culture and legacy the community has. With the use of wood, marble and artistic tiles, the walls of the restaurant are used to portray facts and stories of the traditional Parsi culture.

“It was important for us to express Parsi culture in its most authentic form vs any stereotypes. With all the rich heritage, culture and legacy the community has, we wanted to create a place that Parsi’s can feel proud of, a place where they can walk in with their family or close friends to celebrate good occasions while proudly showcasing what the community is all about,” shares Daruwalla.

Besides the use of wood, marble and artistic tiles,the walls of the restaurant are used to tell stories. The wall behind the bar counter narrates how Parsi’s came to India while the other walls narrate actual recipes and facts.

The furniture, chandeliers, sculpture and graphics are all created in-house by their highly skilled team of craftsmen, artists and fabricators. Parsi homes always feature natural materials and so it was a natural decision to use wood as a major element in the design plan.

Warm lighting and patterned floors are signature elements in Parsi style. Inclusion of all these elements makes the space feel subtle but grand. “We wanted to make sure that we enhance the Parsi experience that the client wanted to offer. We wanted to create the same grand feeling that a Parsi home has and also retain the subtle elegance that the culture encapsulates.” He adds.

The menu is beautifully crafted with food and beverages menu that includes typical parsi food including parsi salli boti, dhansak, and berry pulao including some chicken and prawn starters. Whereas, the beverages menu include drinks like chilli guava, whisky sour and cosmopolitan to name a few. The desserts are also handcrafted with their pudding and sevdahi to name a few.