Karan Johar has launched Oju in Gurugram, thus entering the world of hospitality and expanding his creative canvas apart from filmmaking. Truepalate Hospitality is the project’s partner, while Aayushi Malik Designs is the one who has designed the project. The venue is based on the ground floor of The Anya Hotel, which is located on Golf Course Road, and incorporates the Japanese principle of Shibui that glorifies simplicity, intention, and the use of natural materials such as warm wood cladding and stone floors.
Design Meets Dining: The Shibui Aesthetic
More than just a restaurant, Oju is also an experience that is created by architecture and interior design. The venue has got a lot to offer with its indoor and outdoor sections, a contemporary Zen garden, velvet-curtain-drawn secluded spaces, and artworks that take hints from Kyoto-style patterns. Every component is based on simplicity and tactile quality, like oak wood, travertine tiles, and handcrafted rugs-everything aimed at providing a lingering feeling of peace and elegance.
Culinary Vision and Cocktails That Steal the Show
Oju’s menu has been crafted to present an enhanced Japanese gastronomic experience where the customer can enjoy nigiri, sashimi, and maki rolls or robatayaki-grilled seafood and signature black miso cod, among others. The drinks bar, run by the mixologist Siya Negi, offers cocktails that fuse together the flavors of Japan and Peru, thus making drinks and food for attention.
KJo’s Hospitality Vision: From Neuma to Oju
This business venture of Johar’s is the second big restaurant project of his career-the first one being Neuma at Colaba in Mumbai (now temporarily closed for a reconstruction). He has repeatedly expressed his fondness for Japanese food and has now transferred that love to the heart of the dining scene of Delhi-NCR.
Why the Gurugram area?
Golf Course Road in Gurugram has always been a hotspot for fine dining, and Johar’s Oju stands as a place where one can have not only a meal but also an experience, which is all about ambience, night-out energy, and taste at its best. The price is set to reflect the luxurious ambience (reports indicate around ₹4,000 for two), and it hints to the world that Johar is planning to make hospitality an extension of his storytelling brand.
