SkB Architects, a Seattle-based design firm with a reputation for creating meaningful, sensory-rich environments, announces the debut of Wild Ginger Kitchen, a to-go concept restaurant to be located in Whole Foods 365 stores as well as other locations around the Pacific Northwest. Wild Ginger Kitchen is a limited-menu, to-go concept restaurant focusing on fresh, healthy, Asian-inspired food. Taking its design cue from the newly rekindled Wild Ginger signature restaurant, Wild Ginger Kitchen serves as a modern update to the tiffin lunch, a traditional South Asian meal served in a stacked, easily transportable lunch pail.

“Our design goal was to create something unique and new—a singular experience based on wholesome, ready-to-go food.” said Kyle Gaffney, principal and co-founder of SkB Architects. “We sought to mirror the integrity of the ingredients and the craft of the food in our approach to materials and construction; simple materials used honestly to express their nature.” Designed to be site adapted and inserted into existing environments (each ranging in size from 600 square feet to 1,000 square feet), Wild Ginger Kitchen provides a unique restaurant environment.

Quick service and freshly made cooking come together in a venue that showcases natural ingredients; the open kitchen concept puts the food front and center. The diner’s experience is a carefully orchestrated, intuitive journey from entry to exit. The purposefully limited menu is prepared upon request or available as grab-and-go items from the cold case.

Open-framed teak screens, warm, off-white toned walls, subtly-patterned tile, and a low Carrera marble bar are combined to provide a full-fledged restaurant with a sophisticated-casual atmosphere. Signage is executed in laser-cut plate steel inset into teak paneling with a portion of each letter proud of the panel resulting in a subtle shadow effect.

Design: SkB Architects
Photography: Hannah Rankin