First look: Patina Osaka wows with fabulous artwork and high-quality eating

The rooms

The 221 lodging at Patina Osaka vary from 538-square-foot deluxe rooms to the top-shelf 2,508-square-foot Patina Suite, which has a completely geared up kitchen, a eating room, a rest room with a non-public steam room and sauna and even its personal DJ turntable and state-of-the-art sound system.

My nook junior suite clocked in at a formidable 807 sq. ft. Simply contained in the door, there was a little bit sitting space during which you might take away your outside footwear.

The center portion of the room was occupied by a dwelling space full with a low sectional with built-in aspect tables and a two-seat desk lit by a dangling flooring lamp and set in opposition to the window. There was a 65-inch flat-screen TV mounted on the wall as nicely.

The minibar was stocked with native snacks, a choice of Japanese and worldwide spirits, different drinks, a Nespresso machine and a ceramic Japanese tea set.

The bed room was large and felt like a separate room unto itself. There was a tatami-upholstered recessed window seat offering a nice perch for morning or afternoon studying.

The king-size mattress was wearing silky grey Frette linens with a toffee-colored leather-based headboard and good-looking darkish wooden paneling that framed the sculpted washi paper panel behind it. There was one other wall-mounted TV in right here, too.

Subsequent to the mattress was a midcentury-inspired armchair and ottoman, however I most popular heading straight out to the balcony to soak up the fort views whereas having fun with my morning espresso on the cushioned chaise lounge.

Again towards the entrance door, the spalike lavatory was completed with a mixture of darkish grey stone tiling and lightweight wooden paneling and held two vanities and sinks with copper fixtures.

The glassed-in suite contained an outsized soaking tub, an overhead rainfall bathe, an onsen-style bathe stool and a hand-held showerhead for good measure. The lodge shares full-size Bamford merchandise for company to make use of throughout their keep. My favourite function was the stone wall, although — one other allusion to Osaka Fortress’s basis.

Eating

The Patina Osaka has a number of eating places starting from a high-end teppanyaki grill to a hyper-seasonal, largely plant-based eatery.

P72

Japan has 72 micro seasons, therefore the identify P72, which doubles as chef Antony Scholtmeyer’s culinary laboratory.

Be part of him for a tour of the restaurant’s patio backyard, the place he’ll level out half a dozen several types of mint, myriad different herbs, springtime strawberries and tangy kumquats among the many crops he and his staff of cooks are rising. That fennel root he pulls up out of the earth would possibly simply find yourself in your plate for lunch, tenderly braised after which completed with a crunchy tempura crust.

Among the many different signatures are a seasonal vegetable terrine with pickled veggie “charcuterie” and a Hokkaido potato soup with smoky, dehydrated eggplant and potato-skin powder.

Earlier than you get too absorbed by the meals, nonetheless, you should definitely look up on the dramatic 171-foot sculpture suspended from the ceiling. Molded from tree bark and reclaimed wooden, the set up is supposed to evoke a root construction — each a reference to P72’s plant-focused menu and the connection of previous to current.

The restaurant is at present open each day from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m., with plans to open for dinner as nicely. Set menus vary from $38 to $84 per individual.

Barin

Open Wednesday to Sunday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. for dinner and weekends from 11:30 a.m. till 3 p.m. for lunch, Barin is Patina Osaka’s teppanyaki high-quality eating restaurant with simply 10 counter seats, 16 desk seats (in cubicles the place you may take a more in-depth have a look at that gold-leaf mural, which was impressed by warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s tearoom in Osaka Fortress), and a six-person personal eating room.

Meals right here begin with savory bites like slow-cooked Akashi octopus, sesame tofu and simmered black wagyu beef earlier than easy preparations of fresh-caught fish and seafood over seasonal greens. The meal culminates with succulent cuts of scorching, exquisitely marbled Kuroge wagyu beef served with accompaniments like umami moromi soy sauce, freshly grated wasabi from Izu, garlic chips and charcoal salt.

In the event you nonetheless have room, the garlic rice with pink sakura shrimp from Suruga Bay is hearty and satisfying. Don’t fret, dessert will likely be one thing mild like Kochi melon with fig ganache.

Prix-fixe menus begin at $90 for lunch and $178 for dinner.

Inaki

Basque delicacies in one among Japan’s culinary capitals? It may not make sense on the outset, however as soon as you compromise into the pink brick-tiled eatery with overhanging floral artwork installations and unparalleled fort views, then tuck right into a menu of Basque dishes ready with Japanese elements, the image comes extra into focus.

Menus embody staples like iberico ham croquettes and pan con tomate, plus smoky ajo blanco soup, tortellini with creamy foie gras filling and recent herbs, and mouthwatering iberico pork pluma ready on the roaring Josper grill with celery foam and apple gastrique. Set lunch and dinner menus vary from $49 to $132 per individual.

Company may get pleasure from each day breakfast right here, together with an intensive buffet of recent fruit, house-cured chilly cuts, crostini and house-made pastries, plus a la carte dishes like omelets made to order and conventional Japanese set breakfasts with grilled recent fish, pickled greens and miso soup.

Inaki is open each day from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to three p.m. and 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Sonata Bar & Lounge

Sonata is the guts of the lodge, and music is on the coronary heart of this swanky all-day lounge and sultry cocktail bar. Adjoining to the reception space, the lounge includes a panoramic outside deck overlooking the fort park, a high-top bar on the heart of the motion and comfortable lounging vignettes, together with a non-public room with a complete wall fabricated from 60 classic audio system jigsawed collectively.

You will typically discover workers members standing on the DJ sales space spinning a number of the 600 or so albums curated for the lodge by the proprietor of the classic music retailer Isandla.

Simply as thrilling because the music, although, is the choice of artistic cocktails impressed by the final time town hosted the Expo in 1970. The New Trunk Line, as an example, is a reference to the bullet practice and offers you an identical thrill to dashing down the tracks because of its heady combine of assorted Japanese whiskies, yuzu, lime, coconut water and plum liqueur ($20).

Sonata is open Monday by means of Friday from 2 to 11 p.m. and from midday to 11 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

Nijiri

Bathed in pure mild from double-height home windows and surrounding that spectacular white-and-blue staircase, Nijiri is the lodge’s hushed however informal tea room up on the nineteenth flooring between Barin and Inaki. It’s open from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. each day, and reservations are required.

Facilities and repair

• Workers members commonly supply outings comparable to guided morning walks within the park surrounding Osaka Fortress and meditation classes within the lodge’s 66-foot indoor pool.
• Situated on the fourth flooring, the lodge’s 15,000-square-foot wellness complicated features a health heart geared up with the newest Technogym tools.

• The spa has six remedy rooms and presents a full menu of companies incorporating Oskia and Bamford merchandise, in addition to high-tech experiences comparable to cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen chambers and infrared sauna classes.

• The lodge will quickly debut a 10-person personal occasion area known as the Listening Room that was created in collaboration with Brooklyn “sound sculptor” Devon Turnbull.
• Curious to be taught extra in regards to the lodge’s design and artwork assortment? Basic supervisor Ellen Franke commonly leads excursions for company showcasing each.

Location and logistics

Patina Osaka is positioned centrally within the metropolis, simply throughout the road from Osaka Fortress and its surrounding park. To get right here from Kansai Worldwide Airport (KIX), it takes about 45 minutes and prices round $70 by way of a ride-hailing service. By practice, it takes about 80 minutes and prices $8 to achieve the lodge from the airport.

In the event you’re arriving in Osaka by practice, the Shin-Osaka Station is a 35-minute, $3 metro trip away. Or, you may journey by taxi or ride-hailing service from the practice station to the lodge; that possibility takes quarter-hour and prices about $10.

As for the remainder of town, together with the intense lights of Dotonbori and the buying streets of Shinsaibashi, it is solely about 10 minutes away by automotive and likewise simply accessible by public transport. The lodge presents complimentary shuttle service to the Morinomiya and Tanimachi stations, too.

What it prices

Nightly charges on the Patina Osaka begin round $550. The lodge doesn’t at present take part in a significant loyalty program. Your finest guess is to ebook instantly for any packages or specials the lodge is perhaps providing.

Accessibility

The lodge’s entrances and public areas, in addition to visitor flooring, are all wheelchair-accessible and have no-step pathways. Elevators even have buttons inside attain of wheelchair customers. The lodge has rooms in keeping with Individuals with Disabilities Act requirements, however as with every journey plans, name forward to make sure you can ebook a room that meets your particular necessities.

Backside line

The Patina Osaka feels concurrently ultranew and prefer it was at all times meant to face the place it now does within the historic coronary heart of town. By means of design, artwork and delicacies, the lodge connects company to the colourful tradition of the encircling metropolis, and its elegant eating places present an appetizing counterpoint to Osaka’s well-known road meals. Throw within the palatial rooms with postcard-worthy fort views, and that is definitely some of the thrilling new inns not simply in Osaka, however in all of Japan.

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