FX selects the best new restaurants and bars


Our selection of projects that show the huge variety of designs that can deliver excellence.


fx

Red's True Barbecue
Manchester
Design: Blacksheep

blacksheep.uk.com

Blacksheep describes its design of the Manchester branch of Red's True Barbecue as 'twisted fairground'. It's a fair description of the vibe at this barbecue-meets- rock music restaurant brand, which launched its traditional American slow-style barbecue in Leeds.

The 557 sq m venue is conceived as the ultimate sensory experience for carnivores (although vegetarians are well catered for) and this is amplified by the design, which draws on religious iconography as well as saloon-bar and fairground themes. The concept is that 'Red' is spreading the gospel of the way of the slow barbecue.

The open-plan kitchen, separated from diners only by a open chain fence, allows views of 'pitmasters' taking meat from huge smokers and grilling it on the charcoal grill. To save customers from enquiring if the kitchen is serving, a large Yes/No neon sign indicates availability.

Red’s True Barbecue, Manchester
Red's True Barbecue, Manchester

The bar is illuminated with fairground-style lighting that emanates on spokes from behind the counter and showcases the beverages available as well as the raised DJ booth. Two enclosed dining areas offer more privacy. A 48-cover room features upholstered banquettes and blackened timber panelling in a reference to the darkness of the burned-out pits.

The smaller Rub Room gives direct views into the activities of the kitchen, complete with a mortuary slab-style table. Restrooms are designed in the style of wood-panelled confessional booths.

According to Blacksheep, neither the design, nor the brand, is for the fainthearted. 'Throughout the design religious iconography and messages converse with mortuary-like tables and butchers' curtains to remind the guest of the journey of the product and the primal connection between man and beast,' says lead designer Jordan Littler.

'Reclaimed finishes, key-clamp frames and exposed brickwork all enforce the raw nature of the product while neon signage and bespoke artwork layers to convey the attitude and distinct humour of the brand.'

Verdi
Royal Albert Hall, London
Design: Keane Brands keanebrands.com

Verdi, Royal Albert Hall, London
Verdi, Royal Albert Hall, London

Following a £ 1m refurbishment, the Royal Albert Hall's Café Consort has become Verdi, for Italian casual dining. The revamp was by Keane Brands, a design and brand consultancy specialising in 'good-time' leisure projects. According to Keane Brands MD Jeremy Scarf, the aim was to make the nearly 200-seater restaurant more of a destination in itself.

There were several challenges. 'The building is Grade I listed so there's a lot you can't touch,' says Scarf. 'Everything we put in here is removable, so nothing penetrates into the walls or the floor.'

Verdi, Royal Albert Hall, London
Verdi, Royal Albert Hall, London

In addition, the Hall's distinctive form meant that everything about the design of the first-floor restaurant had to fit in the curved plan. The design was built around the idea of an Italian kitchen, with an open finishing area continuing as a 14m-long zinc-topped bar clad in blue tiling. Curved leather banquettes combine with midcentury- style seating, chunky timber dining tables with metal downlighting.

'We juxtaposed heritage with some light vintage industrial touches,' says Scarf.

Brooklyn Bowl,
O2, London
Design: Barr Gazetas

barrgazetas.com

Food and drink in bowling alleys is traditionally a pretty dispiriting affair, not unlike a bad fast-food outlet. Brooklyn Bowl, the 3,000sq m venue that opened this year at the 02, breaks that mould with aplomb by providing three bars and a 125-seater restaurant run by a Michelin-starred chef Bruce Bromberg.

Brooklyn Bowl, O2, London
Brooklyn Bowl, O2, London. Photo Credit:Richard Southall

Not only does Brooklyn Bowl combine bowling lanes with decent food and drink, it's also a 500 standing-capacity live music venue. Barr Gazetas created the design for this curious mix of uses in a former exhibition hall at the end of Entertainment Avenue. To add to the challenge, the site includes one of the 02's mighty structural quadropod columns right in the middle of the area earmarked for the bowling alley.

The designers drew on the best of the Thirties' Coney Island theme established in the first branch in Brooklyn, New York: 'Entertainment Avenue is all slick and shiny so we felt Brooklyn Bowl should be the opposite - all about texture, recycled planks, steel, and neon signs,' says Alistair Barr.

Brooklyn Bowl, O2, London
Brooklyn Bowl, O2, London. Photo Credit:Richard Southall

Customers enter a deliberately compressed, 2.3m high check-in space before moving into the 11m-high venue for the attractions - a 12-lane bowling alley, stage, restaurant, VIP areas. All kitchen, offices and WCs are on a new mezzanine.

Throughout, Barr Gazetas makes the most of cross views from one activity to the other with the aim of achieving complete connectivity between the experiences.

The restaurant features tables made from recycled timber (some from former bowling lanes), hand-painted signs and Thirties' dressing, including as a row of fairground-style 'knock-down punks'.

Brooklyn Bowl, O2, London
Brooklyn Bowl, O2, London. Photo Credit:Richard Southall

A timber-clad mechanical window opens up to a view of Entertainment Avenue and closes down theatrically when bands are about to play. In the bar, fitted out like a shooting gallery, there is more recycled timber and gleaming copper craft beer vats.

As for the quadropod, Barr Gazetas chose to celebrate rather than conceal it and it has become a major feature, straddling three of the bowling lanes and resplendent with a glitter ball.

Light Cave, Tokyo
Design: Moriyuki Ochiai Architects

moriyukiochiai.com

Light Cave, Tokyo. Photo Credit: Tetsu Hiraga
Light Cave, Tokyo. Photo Credit: Tetsu Hiraga

Tokyo-based practice Moriyuki Ochiai Architects has frequently made dramatic use of folded aluminium in locations ranging from a beauty salon to a bar/event space. Light Cave, its latest restaurant/bar, continues this theme to good effect to enliven a long and narrow site.

'We sought to create a universe in which one can wander into a cosy cave and enjoy transforming scenery as our bodies become enfolded in a whirl of vibrant light,' says Moriyuki Ochiai, who likens the aluminium waves to a living creature.

Light Cave, Tokyo. Photo Credit: Tetsu Hiraga
Light Cave, Tokyo. Photo Credit: Tetsu Hiraga

In the 96 sq m space, completed earlier this year, waves of folded aluminium create a ceiling focal point of ridges and furrows over the dining area, catching the light and intertwining with a red timber lattice that separates this area from the rest of the space. Elsewhere, outcrops of flat sheets suspended from the ceiling emphasise each part of the dining area.








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