Project Description
Shore Leave is a tiki bar and restaurant in Boston’s South End. Owned and operated by Traveler Street Hospitality, the ‘subterranean oasis’ is located about 20 feet below street level and serves as a destination for guests to escape and enjoy. The design team drew inspiration from America’s tiki culture, a motif that stretches beyond stone and wooden figures to include a highly considered selection of tropical and mid-century modern elements. This influence was threaded through the space’s design, taking care to be cheeky and not irreverent. The space includes communal booths, private tables, and three bars, seating about 100 guests. At the center, a dining area is partially enclosed by nautical ropes, allowing it to function privately while remaining included in the spirited surroundings. Commissioned art colorizes the space, including a hand-painted mural depicting the owners and management staff by artist Massimo Mongiardo.
Secluded at the end of a back hallway inside Shore Leave, No Relation is a nine-seat, omakase-style sushi restaurant serving freshly-prepared, globally sourced fish. Owned and operated by Traveler Street Hospitality, it is the only restaurant in Boston dedicated exclusively to this type of traditional Japanese cuisine. The ‘restaurant within a restaurant’ operates autonomously from the tiki bar/restaurant, offering a calmer, intimate dining experience than its counterpart. Pared down materials, such as light wood walls, a white, Japanese cypress sushi counter, and hand-painted tiles orient focus to the relationship between guest and chef as multi-course meals are prepared and served. Commissioned art by artist Mark Grundig includes a painted, magnetic map of the world above the sushi bar used to indicate fish sourcing and a vibrant interpretation of Japanese cherry blossoms that acts as an artful floor treatment.