KHAI KHAI

PLAYING WITH FIRE

Let’s take a journey back to the way things used to be — to heritage Indian comfort food, expertly prepared with fire, smoke and soul.

Khai Khai was slowly cooked over a year and a half. Not helped by Covid, but ultimately made all the richer for it. A dream project for us, bringing both our creative teams together, working in sync across brand and interiors from the very beginning.

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Khai Khai’s innovative offering is centred around ‘Smoke play’ reflecting the expertise of highly skilful chefs cooking over coals, bringing to mind the shifting interaction of darkness, fire and transparency. The kitchen team is presided over by celebrated Michelin-starred chef Alfred Prasad and his exquisitely curated menu charts India’s extraordinary culinary evolution with its melting pot of distinctive regional food traditions and cultural heritage, a journey back to the way things used to be. These elemental cooking techniques inform the food and also helped shape the concept for the brand world.

Fiery, smokey painted textures and ornate lattice work patterns are central to Khai Khai’s brand DNA, and we weaved them through every brand touch point, from the in venue graphics and art, menus, and their innovative takeaway Feast Box.

Khai Khai’s menu traces the roots of India’s extraordinary culinary evolution — a melting pot of regional traditions and cultural heritage. Every dish is a journey back to its original recipe, with nothing spared in the pursuit of authenticity. Each mouthful recalls the flavours of childhood, the way Grandma used to make it. Back to fire, smoke and time-honoured techniques perfected in villages and kitchens across India for generations.

Our brand world draws from the rhythms of rural India — vibrant scenes filled with communal feasting and cries of “Khai Khai! Let me eat! Let me eat!” At the heart of it all: Grandma, presiding over the meal, where food is shared, stories are passed down, and tradition is served with every bite.

Using some of the illustrations, patterns and textures we created for the brand, we designed a series of artworks to be displayed throughout Khai Khai’s two floors. A body of work, full of charcoal and smoke, that compliments the cuisine — legendary dishes prepared over hot stones, coals, wood fires in the revolutionary josper or the age-old tandoor oven.

We wanted to add some magic and drama to the interiors, including a corridor flanked with an enormous framed artwork that sits on a bespoke wallpaper opposite some circus style convex and concave mirrors. And a red neon sign with Khai Khai’s ‘Smoke Play’ tagline sits in a theatrical village scene from which coloured smoke is periodically flooded. To make sure that every guest’s visit to Khai Khai is full of memories.

KHAI KHAI

At the heart of Khai Khai’s concept is “Smoke Play” — a nod to the elemental art of Indian fire cooking. Under the expert eye of Michelin-starred chef Alfred Prasad, the menu celebrates the complexity and variety of India’s culinary heritage, shaped over centuries by regional traditions, cultural history and technique. We took inspiration from these time-honoured cooking methods to shape the brand world: a rich tapestry of texture, depth and drama.

We developed a quirky, atmospheric graphic style combining traditional village scenes with fiery, smoky painted textures and ornate latticework patterns. This became central to Khai Khai’s visual language — weaved through every touchpoint, from the menus and murals to the signage, venue art and website.

Our design for the bar is a key focal point: dark and moody, constructed from antiqued mesh and metal, with burnished studs, soft internal lighting and a deep green marble top. Finished with antique brass and leather bar stools, each detailed with a bespoke strap. Framing the space are two standout lighting pieces — our custom-designed Smoke Play tube light and blackened steel window light box.

We created a gallery of artworks using our brand illustrations, textures and patterns — a visual extension of the culinary theme. A mix of charcoal, fire and smoke, echoing the dishes themselves: legendary plates finished over hot stones, coals, open flames, Josper grills and tandoors.

Drama and magic run through the interiors. A moody corridor features an oversized framed artwork on custom wallpaper, flanked by funhouse mirrors that reflect and distort the space. A red neon sign pulses Khai Khai’s ‘Smoke Play’ tagline beside a painted village backdrop, periodically filled with coloured smoke — making every visit theatrical, immersive and full of memories.