Vesper Paris

Nikkei food is a term for the cuisine that originated with the Japanese diaspora in Latin America, and more specifically in Peru. It started at the end of the 19th century when the first ship of migrants from Yokohama arrived in the port city of Callao. The Japanese workers brought their recipes and cooking styles with them, and soon mixed those with Peruvian ingredients and dishes like ceviche. Today, Nikkei cuisine is a gastronomic sensation in countries across the world.

Since last year, Parisians have a new place go to and indulge in modern Franco-Japanese cuisine with Peruvian touches, all in an extravagant ambiente. Vesper is a festive fusion restaurant and cocktail bar near the École Militaire on the Rive Gauche. Spanish architect Lazaro Rosa Violan helped to create a hypnotic experience with his interior design. It featuries an open-plan kitchen where chef Lucas Felzine prepares signature dishes like black cod with miso and aji amarillo, lacquered duck gyoza, or grilled squid from the Japanese barbecue. He’s supported by Mitsuo Miyauchi, maître of sushi, maki and sashimi. Head barmaid Agathe Potel has put together a menu of ten refined cocktails and an exclusive selection of spirits.

Design studio Abmo was in charge of the visual identity. While the wordmark is custom script lettering, all typography uses two typefaces from the catalog of Paris-based digital type design agency Production Type. Mars is a high-waisted sans with roots in German grotesks from around 1900. It features in its confident Extended style and predominantly in uppercase letters. The second ingredient in this typographic fusion is Cardinal, a synthetic serif alluding to the early computing days. More specifically, Vesper employs Cardinal Photo, the family branch designed for large, bold headlines, with dramatic contrast and extra tight letter spacing. Most of the time, it can be seen used in its mouthwatering italics. Bon appétit!