Kojo Sarasota — full dining floor with Tier 1 Furnishings custom acacia tables and booth seating

Restaurant Project · Sarasota, Florida · 2020

Kojo Sarasota — A Custom Restaurant Furniture Project

Tier 1 Furnishings · Chiang Mai, Thailand

Client	Kojo Sarasota — Hi Hospitality Group
Interior Designer	Natalie Frey
Location	1289 N. Palm Ave, Sarasota, Florida
Production	Chiang Mai, Thailand
Year	2020
Scope	Live Edge Dining Tables, Custom Legs, Hostess Stand, Buffet Table, Menu Station, D-Shaped Booth Tops, Wall Panels, Teak Art Sculpture
Materials	Solid Acacia (including 100+ year old old-growth), Teak Root

— The Project —

An Upscale Asian Fusion Destination in Downtown Sarasota

Kojo Sarasota is an upscale Asian fusion restaurant at 1289 N. Palm Ave in downtown Sarasota, Florida — the flagship concept of Hi Hospitality Group. When Kojo was being built out, interior designer Natalie Frey turned to Tier 1 Furnishings to produce the complete suite of custom wood furniture that would define the space.

The brief was ambitious: solid acacia wood throughout, every piece hand-crafted in Thailand, no two surfaces identical. The project encompassed live edge dining tables, a monumental hostess stand, a custom buffet stand, a menu station, D-shaped booth tops in 100+ year old acacia, wall panels for the booth seating areas, and a large-scale teak root art sculpture for the entrance. T1F managed sourcing, production, quality control, and international shipping — delivering every piece to Sarasota in time for Kojo’s grand opening.

Kojo entrance — Kojo sign with moss wall and live edge acacia hostess stand

The entrance to Kojo — the Kojo branded moss wall and the live edge acacia hostess stand visible through to the dining floor beyond

— Signature Pieces —

The Live Edge Dining Tables

The dining tables are the visual backbone of the room — 30+ solid acacia slabs, each one selected for its individual grain movement, live edges, and natural character. Every top was routed underneath in a precise grid pattern to reduce weight for transport while maintaining full structural integrity on the dining surface. Each edge was finished by hand. No two tables are alike.

T1F live edge acacia dining tables at Kojo — set for service with pendant lighting

The dining floor at Kojo — T1F live edge acacia tables, set for service

Live edge acacia table corner detail — the natural form of the slab preserved

Live edge table corner — the natural form of the acacia slab, finished by hand

Kojo branded coaster on T1F live edge acacia table — the wood grain tells the story

The Kojo branded coaster resting on the swirling grain of a T1F acacia table top

The live edge acacia panels decorating the booths at Kojo — monumental room divider separating sushi bar from dining floor

The live edge acacia hostess stand serving as the room divider at the center of the floor plan

The Hostess Stand

The hostess stand is the centrepiece of the entire floor plan — a monumental solid acacia slab shaped into a room divider that separates the entrance from the dining floor. The raw slab was so large and heavy that a chain hoist was required to position it during production in Chiang Mai.

The finished piece is simultaneously a functional check-in desk and a dramatic statement in natural wood. Every guest walks past it on their way to the table — it sets the tone for the entire dining experience.

Kojo dining floor showing hostess stand room divider and T1F dining tables

The full dining floor — the acacia hostess stand anchoring the centre, T1F dining tables on either side

The Buffet Stand & Menu Station

Beyond the dining tables and hostess stand, T1F produced two custom service pieces: a solid acacia buffet stand and a nine-cubby menu station. The buffet stand required a fully custom design — the piece needed to sit flush against an awkward wall in the restaurant, so standard dimensions were not an option.

T1F built it to exact specification: three deep drawers, three cabinet doors, a raised shelf, and solid acacia throughout. A nine-cubby menu station was lined with bookmatched acacia panels — every interior surface the same quality as the exterior.

Kojo custom buffet table after construction, ready for coating before transport

The dining area alongside booth seating — the acacia panel work visible throughout the interior

D-Shaped Booth Tables & Acacia Wall Panels

The private dining booths feature two pieces that elevate the space: D-shaped (half-moon) table tops cut from acacia sourced from trees over 100 years old — the concentric growth rings are extraordinary — and custom solid acacia wall panels that line each booth section. The panels give the seating areas a warm, enveloping quality that contrasts beautifully with the restaurant’s harder finishes.

Curved booth seating at Kojo with T1F D-shaped acacia table top and acacia wall panels

The curved booth and D-shaped acacia table top — the warmth of old-growth wood in a contemporary setting

Curved booth seating at Kojo — the T1F acacia work and bar area beyond

Curved booth seating — the T1F acacia booth table and the Kojo bar visible beyond

The Teak Root Art Sculpture

The teak root art sculpture at the restaurant entrance was one of the most labour-intensive pieces in the project. Each piece of teak root was hand-sorted, selected, and assembled by artisans in Chiang Mai into a tall sculptural column that stands at the entrance to Kojo.

It greets every guest daily — the first piece of T1F work they encounter, and a statement about the quality of material running throughout the entire interior. At night, uplighting brings the sculpture’s texture to life.

Kojo entrance — Kojo sign and the teak root sculpture visible at the entrance

The entrance to Kojo — the teak root column and the natural material palette that runs through the entire space

— Shipping —

Container TCLU 274573

From Chiang Mai to Sarasota

With every piece complete, the full order was wrapped, packed, and loaded into a 20-foot container for the voyage from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Sarasota, Florida. Each slab was individually wrapped in cardboard and secured. The full container — dining tops, legs, buffet, menu station, D-shaped booth tops, wall panels, and the teak sculpture — cleared international customs and was delivered directly to the Kojo build site.

— The Result —

Kojo Sarasota — Opened & Thriving

Kojo opened in early 2021 to immediate acclaim. Hi Hospitality Group created one of the defining dining experiences in downtown Sarasota, and the T1F furniture is at the heart of it. Every table, every surface, every panel reflects the vision Natalie Frey set out and the craftsmanship Tier 1 Furnishings delivered — from raw slab selection in a workshop in Thailand to the finished room in Florida.