Maedaya Bar

Maedaya Bar:

400 Bridge Road, Richmond VIC
(03) 9428 3918

Toshi Maeda grew up in the province of Hyogo, Japan, famous for having the best sake rice. For the last 10 years, he has based himself in Australia, while touring the world with punk rock group Mach Pelican. Realising that his motherland’s sake wasn’t widely introduced to the rest of the world, and driven by his own ‘passion’ for alcohol, Maeda has opened his own sake and grill bar, Maedaya, in Melbourne. Maedaya Bar is a minimalist affair, designed by Architects Eat, using ordinary recyclable material throughout the design. Imitating the tradition of securing wooden casks of sake with rope, Architects Eat bound the lower level bar and grill in Manila ropes. The ropes are held in tension to form the shape of a house, straddling the width of the venue, ‘tying in’ the notion that tea and sake houses are an important part of Japanese communal tradition. Nestled in between the ropes are individual lockers where patrons can stow their unfinished alcohol for next visit. The materials used throughout the remainder of the first floor fitout are primarily timber and concrete. Upstairs, the function room is a space for self service grill, and designed to be in stark contrast with the ground floor; with white washed walls, Japanese black stained timber flooring, timber benches and stainless steel canopies. There were no attempts to apply any embellishments to the space, letting the food and act of cooking embody the purpose of the space without compromising its sophistication.