Oriental chain aims for number one

Quiddington Revell is designing interiors for nascent oriental food brand Yi Ban, which plans to open a chain of restaurants and hopes to compete at the same level as the Yo Sushi brand.

Branding for Yi Ban, which means ‘number one’ in Chinese, is by Four Letter Word, a sister graphic design consultancy to Quiddington Revell.

Yi Ban’s inaugural eaterie is a contemporary Chinese restaurant, which opens in the first week of September at the London Regatta Centre near City Airport. It will be followed later in the month by a ‘Yi Ban Express’ fast-food outlet at Excel exhibition centre in London’s Docklands.

The consultancy has also designed concepts for a third restaurant, details for which it will start to evolve from next week, says co-founder Sean Revell.

The venue, set to open in Chelsea Harbour in September 2004, will be a Japanese Tepenyaki restaurant and differ in its interiors format.

‘We want to develop a strong sense of brand for Yi Ban and gain a Yo Sushi level of familiarity,’ says Revell. ‘The brand has to be flexible because it represents different types of cuisine.’

The London Regatta Centre Yi Ban restaurant (entrance pictured) will feature black and white full- height images of water, which in China represents money.

An original American oak floor has been left but re-stained, adds Quiddington. The centre is housed in an Albert Dock building designed by architect Ian Ritchie.