...IT AIN'T WHAT YOU DO.......

' It ain't what you do , it's the way that you do it..
  that's what gets results '..........................

I suppose that having spent most of my professional career designing and/or illustrating interiors for the Leisure Industry then restaurant interiors should figure more often here..............so lets start off with a couple in Manchester.

First one up is Australasia , another one of Tim Bacon's creations and positioned at the entrance to Spingingfields on Deansgate - although if you blinked you would miss it , as the whole of the restaurant apart from the minimalist entrance is undercover , below ground...........................

...................a restaurant in a basement , no natural daylight - and no way of seeing in from the outside ; a recipe for disaster , especially when you are looking for a good lunchtime trade. The interior , however , is particularly impressive without ever being too pretentious - you can eat here quite happily for around £20,00 for a light lunch . Light , bright , airy , this is one of the nicest interiors that I have seen for a long long time . The colour is predominantly white , offset by pale natural materials - bleached wood , linen fabrics , pale lights - and there is no feeling of being locked away underground , it is so light and airy . It took me a while to realise in fact that the interior would probably not work so well if there was natural daylight coming in ; daylight is too variable , whilst in an enclosed space you have full control over the lighting.

 

 All in all a particularly nice interior ; I have worked myself for this particular client and know the designers who created it ; could I have done it any better ? ........I seriously doubt it............... 

 

 

 A really nice experience - and the food is good too..........................

 

 

Meanwhile , across town , another restaurant , another interior - and another client I have worked for.

The new ' French ' restaurant at the Midland Hotel , fronted up by signature chef Simon Rogan with a view to securing the first Michelin starred restaurant for the City .

  

 

Unfortunately  this interior doesn't do it for me - stark Scandinavian furniture sitting in that large open space ? A carpet designed to look like floorboards ? The interior to me lacks warmth and comfort , and does little to enhance the dining experience...............too cold , too overawed by the historical ' not to be touched ' interior........

 

A Michelin star experience ? maybe ..................but meanwhile ,  somewhere in Manchester , Tim Bacon and his team are also working towards a new restaurant with Michelin star aspirations................

 

I know who my money is on.