Located on Japan’s central Honshu Island, the vibrant and historic city of Kanazawa is renowned for its traditional culture, arts and fine cuisine. It’s fitting then that the city is now home to OTM – the country’s first restaurant specializing in microgreens. To enhance the customer experience, the restaurant’s stylish and chic interior is complemented by a sound system based around Genelec 4020 installation loudspeakers in the distinctive raw aluminium finish.
Microgreens are young vegetable shoots that have been sprouting for about 1 to 3 weeks –and are packed with vitamins and minerals. OTM grows its own microgreens, incorporating them into pasta, sandwiches, cheesecake and even a ‘guilt-free’ ice cream.
OTM is run by the Sabi Corporation, and the decision to install a Genelec solution at the restaurant began when Sabi’s president and CEO, Mr. Yamazaki, experienced Genelec loudspeakers at an art gallery in Tokyo. “When Mr. Yamazaki visited the gallery he experienced the quality of the sound firsthand, and decided that he wanted to use Genelec in OTM, which was still in the planning stages at the time,” explains Yuka Miyamoto, Sabi’s PR & Marketing Manager. “Until now, acoustics had always been the last decision made when we were creating a space. This was the first time that loudspeakers had been a given from the design stage onwards."
Working closely with Genelec Japan, the company ultimately settled on a configuration using ten 4020 two-way active loudspeakers. "Since we've installed good loudspeakers, we want to promote sound quality as one of the features of OTM," says Miyamoto.
"You can clearly hear conversations at the same table, but you're not bothered by conversations around you,” Miyamoto continues. I was looking for loudspeakers that could achieve this, and Genelec's sound is perfect. Another major feature is that they allow you to listen to music comfortably. There's no strange resonance, and the sound has a good feel to it.”
One of the key benefits of Genelec loudspeakers is their ability to produce clean, intelligible audio for low level background music, and retain that same clarity at much higher SPLs – for higher energy music playback. This is something OTM is keen to take advantage of, as Miyamoto explains: "During lunchtime, in addition to tourists, we also have a lot of women who come alone to have tea, so we play a lot of peaceful music. In the evening, it becomes bar time, so the lineup includes cool programmed music and hip hop. We have a permanent DJ booth inside OTM, so in the future, we would also like to have a DJ session during the evening, to meet customer demand."
Reflecting on the installation, Miyamoto fully appreciates the role that audio has to play in the world of modern hospitality. “This is the first time we've had a space that focuses on sound in this way, and introducing Genelec loudspeakers has reminded us that sound is a very important element in a restaurant."
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