Dom Restaurant, designed by international design firm MEGRE INTERIORS for the Rakusa Group, has opened its doors to the public. It all starts with a spark and an idea to create something for others to enjoy. With this in mind, MEGRE INTERIORS designed the Dom Restaurant as an immersive guest experience instead of just a space to indulge. The Rakusa Group wanted to create a place of pride and elevated feeling for city dwellers and visitors. Straight away, Yuna Megre saw this as a place of surprising aesthetic and yet comforting familiarity, filled with light, warmth, sounds of the bustling kitchen, and chatting guests. Drawing on what “Dom,” home in Russian, means to us all – togetherness, comfort, safety, warmth, acceptance – the team created a concept and layout to speak those codes. The design language of whites and caramels, rough plaster and oaks, blush tinted concrete, and marbles were further inspired by the local Taiga setting, its herbage, the great Amur River, the white of snow, the heat of summer, and the fields of flowers. MEGRE INTERIORS Principal, Yuna Megre, incorporated her proprietary approach of Torn Open Kitchen to remove the separation of guests and kitchen, to immerse one in the cooking process, giving the cooks center stage. An impressive wood-burning oven shaped like an old pechka is at the heart of this open kitchen, boasting 360-degree views of the dining room. The kitchen pays further homage to Russian heritage through mazanka, a traditional plaster technique on all its surfaces. The guest areas are wrapped around the kitchen, starting with an impressive arrival space, followed by the main dining area to its right crowned by a fireplace, followed by the VIP room, and ended with a greenery-filled conservatory on the left. This central placement of the kitchen and unraveling of the functional areas in four directions is not accidental and is deep-rooted in the Russian pagan culture. Some may question the need for such deep and forward-thinking concept in a small city on the Amur river. But Yuna Megre believes that great concepts and design can live in any location. And more importantly are crucial to the social fabric of a city, no matter how remote or small, in uplifting spirits, providing comfort, and communicating the value of beauty. Thus a very ambitious and complex creation was conceived. But a concept is just a dream unless executed. Most of the elements for this project were custom-made by artisans from Khabarovsk and throughout Russia. It was essential to both the designers and the client to have that locality and authenticity. The clear epoxy tables with real field flowers inside, the Field of Flowers lighting constellation, the artisan plates with local herbage, the beehive inspired shape of pechka and lighting elements, – are just some of the bespoke creations conceived by MEGRE INTERIORS for this project. Everything here is handmade, hand-picked and created with love. Love of the home.