Food meets theatre in a business sector that welcomes individuality of approach & uniqueness of design concept; admittedly only as PR opportunities, but how bad?
And you get fed.
Café Spice Namaste - London 1989 - A unique colour palette, combined with classical Indian structural and graphic motifs, gave our client a set of tools to use in replication to develop a national chain of Indian restaurants, which considering the popularity of this cuisine, there are very few.
Mon Plaisir Group - London 1984 - Alain Lhermitte bought Mon Plaisir from his retiring boss, Madam Vialla in 1971, which she had begun in 1943: one restaurant, two families in 65 years – must be unique. We transformed the newly acquired next-door property into a restaurant & bar to accommodate large parties, as opposed to the more intimate interior of the original restaurant.
Exotika - London 2004 - You know the problem, three in the morning & you're starving, but you just can't bear the thought of the kebab van; hence the very sensible concept of 'Exotika' – the late night eatery of some merit, selling an extensive menu of both Oriental & European offerings till late.
Smollensky's American Brasserie - London 2000 - The American Brasserie? A curious cross-cultural invention; our interpretation was inspired by New York Cool, by Miles Davis Kind of Cool, by the Merry Pranksters’ Acid Kandy Kool, dropped into the deepest, darkest sub-basement on Piccadilly.
Zen Group - London & Hong Kong 1984 - This see-and-be-seen site in St Christopher's Place, home to ladies who lunch (North Oxford Street Chapter), was to be converted into 'Zen Cargo' restaurant – where East was to meet West. So much for our man Kipling. Our concept was not only reflective of the marine trade between China and Britain, porcelain for opium, but of apposite opposites. Cold intense blues against hot copper. It worked, but the chef didn't. Straight back to Hong Kong – bad chi, sell site to Antony Worrall Thompson!
When Zen Cargo closed, Antony Worrall Thompson who was convinced of the site’s location, felt that after all those years of cooking attendance upon Di's lot down south (Beauchamp Place Chapter) that he knew the market – Mediterranean – and the state of his bank balance – empty. But you don’t have to destroy all the old to create a new sensation: same site, same structure, same furniture – but add new colour palette and table decorations, throw away the brand-new carpet, and lastly change the name to ‘Zoë’. Result: different ambiance, different success.
Texas Lone Star - London 1989. A complete corporate revamp for this chain of Tex-Mex diners – new logo, menu design, signage, external frontage, the whole bit. But how do you get brand standout in the flutter and clutter of the urban retail jungle? Just add an eight-foot Indian, that's how!
Virgin Megastore Cafés – London 1978 - The prototype concept for a proposed national chain of in-store eateries, to appeal to the average Megastore customer of that era. Pure geometric forms & primary colours set against a hose-able neutral background, all in a vain hope of maintaining a degree of cleanliness in the era of the punk.
Mon Plaisir Group - London 1988 - The more contemporary member of the group was Mon Plaisir du Nord, the errant teenage son born in Islington. More drink than food, more boulevardier than gourmand.