With lacquered greens, chinoiserie wallpaper and coral-velvet seating, this Kuwait restaurant introduces a more expressive design language to the city's evolving dining scene.
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel took Michelangelo four years to complete. Da Vinci was perfecting Mona Lisa’s mystery for 16 years. After all, doesn't perfection take time? Proving the counterpoint, is the team at Kuwaiti-based Gastronomica who pulled off the almighty feat of creating and decorating their Chinoiserie-inspired restaurant République in just 20 days. “It was extremely fast-paced,” says Design and Projects Director Mira Zoghby, “with engineering, design and operations all happening at once.” It’s an impressive achievement given the intricate detailing of the finished product, a space that has quickly become sine qua non for in-the-know Kuwaitis.
Set within the beachfront dining complex Jõn, République was originally conceived as a pop-up, following founder Basil Al Salem’s travels in Vietnam, a country whose colonial history has long inspired interior designers. Flourishing between the 1920s and 1945, Indochine design’s fusion of French Art Deco-influenced elegance and traditional Vietnamese details immortalised everything from rattan and bamboo to folding screens and rotary telephones. Its resurgence began with legendary restaurateur Brian McNally’s Indochine, which threw open its doors to the great and the shoulder-padded of New York in 1984; and it’s a style that has kept on giving, from the Dorchester London’s China Tang in 2005 to Hong Kong’s Mott 32 in 2014. Now it’s come into its own with this Kuwait restaurant.
At République, the lacquered surfaces and deeply varnished woods “are a richer, more textural direction than what dominated before in Kuwait,” continues Zoghby, “The region previously leaned toward minimal and sleek interiors. This is more layered and expressive.” For the diners, it’s a smart unfurling from the darkly atmospheric reception through to the black-and-white checkerboard floored dining room, its walls lined with an elegant wallpaper designed by the team.
The wallpaper is a dramatic large-scale botanical panorama with flora and birds rendered in an evergreen palette against a soothing background colour like softly mottled India tea paper, all framed by dark celadon marquetry. It’s dramatic and ensconcing, particularly in contrast with the acid-blue of the sea outside. The furniture follows the coastal palette, with deep-green lacquered banquettes and rattan-back chairs upholstered in coral-red velvet. Bamboo and natural textures add warmth, contrasting with the emerald-green and black marble tabletops. Even Marlene Dietrich’s Shanghai Lily would be impressed by the level of detail.
République is the right restaurant for the right moment, with Kuwait deepening its hospitality offerings. Always well travelled, the population is ever more visually literate and increasingly drawn to interiors that feel immersive. “There’s a shift happening,” says Zoghby, “people are moving toward spaces that feel more layered and expressive.”
After years of pared-back minimalism across the region, the return to warmth, richness and a sense of occasion feels genuinely relevant. Little wonder guests describe the space as unlike anything else in Kuwait: it has swiftly become a destination for atmosphere as much as for dining. As Zoghby notes, “The response from guests has been incredibly rewarding, and many speak about how transportive the space feels, and they love its point of difference in the city.” Vive La République! @republiqueme
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