Go East: Pabu’s Interior Design

Boston living is as much about excellent dining options as it is about fine homes. Here, we review Pabu, a new Japanese izakaya in Downtown Crossing.

pabu boston interior design

Photograph by Brian Samuels

Wrangling with a corporate shell, as the Millennium Tower provides, isn’t easy, but shoji-inspired transoms help divide space while setting the mood. In a grand room such as this, it’s best to illuminate the art, rather than the diners. Here, ambient light is pleasingly low, focusing attention on the food, and on the traditional crane mural, elegantly finished in gold leaf.

pabu boston interior design

Photograph by Brian Samuels

A flurry of paper lantern–like fixtures hanging in a joyous pattern mimicks Obon, the wondrous Japanese lantern festival. The fixtures are reflected in the large adjacent mirror to great effect.

pabu boston interior design

Photograph by Brian Samuels

Private booths offer not only intimacy, but also an opportunity to showcase a lovely cherry blossom mural handpainted on a rustic wood plank surface, the perfect embodiment of wabi-sabi.

pabu boston interior design

Photograph by Brian Samuels

Read the Review