Restaurant OMIJA
PROJECT : Restaurant OMIJA
STATUS : Project delivered
TOTAL AREA : 110 m² / 1184 sqf
LOCATION : Nantes, FRANCE
YEAR : 2019
Omija Gastronomic Restaurant — Nantes City Centre
This project concerns the interior design of a gastronomic restaurant located in the city centre, led by Chef Romain Bonnet and awarded one star in the Michelin Guide. The project had to respond to a dual challenge: creating a warm and intimate atmosphere while giving a strong architectural identity to a space with limited dimensions.
The restaurant is organised around three complementary areas: a main dining room directly connected to the kitchen, a bright veranda opening onto the city, and a quieter room set back from the main space. Each room has its own atmosphere, while remaining part of a coherent design language combining wood, copper, textured materials and restrained tones.
From the moment guests enter the restaurant, their gaze is naturally drawn towards the kitchen. The timber ceiling, designed as a structuring architectural element, guides the eye towards the heart of the restaurant: the open kitchen and the chef at work. This creates a direct relationship between the dining room and the culinary preparation, making the kitchen a central part of the experience.
Beyond its visual role, the ceiling also helps organise the main dining room. It structures the space, gives rhythm to the perspective and brings a sense of depth to a relatively small restaurant. The lighting, combined with the copper network, contributes to this composition and reinforces the warm atmosphere of the place.
The layout was designed so that each table could benefit from a certain sense of intimacy. Despite the compact size of the restaurant, each dining area is subtly individualised through dedicated lighting, the positioning of the furniture and the alternation of seating colours. This variation creates rhythm while avoiding an overly uniform reading of the room.
The room set back from the main space offers a calmer and more peaceful atmosphere. The colours are more restrained, and the seating is less contrasted, creating a more discreet setting suited to a more intimate dining experience. As a whole, the project seeks to accompany the precision of the cuisine through a sensitive, warm and carefully balanced interior architecture.
NODA studio also developed the graphic identity of Omija restaurant. This branding work is based on a minimal, understated and precise approach, echoing the chef’s cuisine. The visual identity avoids any unnecessary effect, favouring a delicate, legible and carefully controlled expression.
The highly refined logo dialogues with hand-drawn illustrations, bringing a more sensitive and textured dimension to the whole identity. These drawings evoke gesture, patience and the precision of artisanal work, while reflecting the quality and finesse of the cuisine.
The graphic universe therefore seeks to convey the spirit of the restaurant: a contemporary gastronomic cuisine, demanding yet discreet, where every detail matters.
