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Thursday, 12 October 2006 | Levent OZLER
Prêt à Manger: Eight New Concept Restaurants
Prêt à manger is the result of a workshop led by Simone Micheli at Scuola Politecnica di Design in collaboration with two star chefs, both Piedmontese: Davide Scabin from the celebrated Combal.Zero and Ugo Alciati from Guido restaurant, for generations a major milestone in Italian culinary landmark. Twenty-five international students from SPD Master's in Interior Design envisioned eight new concept restaurants: places for meeting people and having fun, designed to bring intrigue and taste discovery to your palate.
Every dining experience reflects both the cultural heritage and the future of eating out. The students' goal was to breakdown the rigid procedures that are typical to the traditional experience and innovate it.
Gala Restaurant emphasizes what is usually in the backstage of a restaurant, the kitchen and the art of cooking. The customers are invited to take part in the creation of a dish. It is the most important experience, what all the guests will treasure in their memories. The reference for this project comes from the red carpet and the show here is all about cooking. The kitchen is located on the underground floor, the reception and the lounge are on the ground floor while the restaurant is on the first floor. The red carpet which has also a structural function, runs through the whole area, from the entrance to the reception, from the lounge to the dining room. In the lobby people can have a drink leaning on special furniture pieces in the shape of gigantic pistils of a flower. The lounge features big beds for sipping cocktails or tasting wine together in total relax. The dining room hosts three stages where the the chef and his staff prepare the dishes, working with accurate and coordinate movements. It is a show in three acts performing every night: the appetizer, the main course and act three, the dessert.
Creative cuisine is continuously experimenting daring combinations of ingredients, flavours and techniques to design original "food architectures". But a food creation, seen as an artwork, is the result of a process always unknown to who enjoys the dish. This is where the idea of Contatto comes from: a cosy and relaxed environment where people feel at ease and can share the dining experience with the chef, going over the traditional separation between guests and kitchen staff. The concept, based on the relationship man-space-food, makes the furniture interactive. The space is flexible, the whole experience recalls memories and promotes curiosity. The dinner is like a game: people taste food lying down on a couch, without cutlery, dishes, chairs and tables. The atmosphere is warm, the mix of music and images involves people to take part an exciting experience.
It is not only a restaurant. Studio 10 offers space, time, interaction and flexibility. This location, suitable for different purposes, can be the ideal setting for business presentations, the performance of a celebrity chef or private parties. The design language is rough, industrial, strong and simple. This enhances the client's interface with the interior where guests move freely: the final result depends from their interactions that changes every time. The main feature is a 'catwalk' or gallery space provided with facilities for communication and advertising. Sensory elements become dominant, visual and tactile influences work alongside taste, aroma and sound as the client travels on this interactive journey. From brand experience to kitchen: here nothing can keep your attention away from the food, protagonist in the scene. The menu is part of the space and is communicated through materials that are built into the environment. The first floor is for meeting and talking. The furniture is flexible and suitable for different uses. The overall impression is that of a museum where the combination of materials, lights and layout helps to communicate the brand and the products insisting on the senses.
Kylh offers a complete experience to the client: a meeting place with a restaurant, a lounge bar, a disco, a café and a delishop. Different colours define the various functions of the space and also the atmosphere of the evening. From the Barbianco, a perfect place for a drink after work, where you can listen to jazz music in total relax, you can go upstairs to Ristoranteneutro, to taste fusion dishes for the most refined palates. But every dinner ends up at the Barnero where you can drink and dance all the night long.
Remember being told by your parents not to play with food at the dinner table? Cleanic is a laboratory where you can experiment on food rediscovering primary flavours. A place to awaken the most personal of all senses: taste. The dominant colour along the corridor is white and it suggests the idea of purification of both your mind and body. At the entrance each guest receives a set of tools and accessories like a first-aid kit. In the dining room the approach is absolutely non conventional. The menu is revealed only by a ultraviolet light and clients are invited to create a personal combination of ingredients choosing colours, textures, specific smells from the menu, and even their preparation and techniques. The options are countless and the customer has to take part in this experiment. Have you found the perfect formula? The menu created during the night are projected at the entrance and can be shared with other guests.
Air, water, earth, fire: the alchemical synthesis of life. Ingredients that come back in cooking to sum up, once more, the origin of what we eat. Thus the inspiration for this restaurant - named meaningfully 4 elements - comes from nature. The project privileges an organic language by choosing simple volumes with fluid surfaces. A circle, representing the combination of the four elements, is the primary shape in the design of the interiors and generates fluid structures that change according to the light. The light emphasizes the volumes and indicates the change of scenery, from breakfast until dinner.
A dinner at the restaurant becomes a moment of real fun and a chance to meet new people. The social dimension prevails in this concept, Ludicroom, designed for those who love playing while discovering new tastes. The restaurant is divided into various spaces, according to the different courses. For instance, you can find a lounge for sipping cocktails, rooms dedicated only to starters, main courses or dessert or even a cigar room. Everyone is given a few game rules along with a special belt with all the tools needed: a set of cutlery, a napkin and the menu. The order, the lenght of the dinner and also the number of rooms to be visited is absolutely free. The players choose the path and the playmates. It is an experience that involves not only food and taste, but also the fellow guests and the whole space.
Lynph is a journey through different tastes and flavours coming from all over the world. This project celebrates the culinary tradition of the five continents, from Mediterranean to Thai cuisine, but also the diverse ways of having a meal: a formal dinner or more modern experiences such as the american-style brunch. The organization of the restaurant reflects this idea: separate areas, distributed on three levels, allow a specific food experience. It starts with the convivial atmosphere of the first room dedicated to finger food. Then the guest move to the tasting area where the design of the interiors helps to savour all the sensory qualities of food. And finally, in the third room, the dinner is served at the table to discover the world in a dish.
Credits
Master's in Interior Design, y. 05-06
Scuola Politecnica di Design SPD
Workshop: Arch. Simone Micheli
with the support of
Davide Scabin, Combal.Zero, Castello di Rivoli
Ugo Alciati, Guido, Pollenzo
Workgroups
Gala Ristorante
Juan Carlos Tapia, Mexico
Antonio Zardoni, Italy
Giorgia Paolini, Italy
Contatto
Fred Avitaia, Italy
Johanna Erla, Iceland
Alice Roscini, Italy
Studio 10
Jorge Bibiloni, Spain
Concetta Lorenzo, Italy
Michaela Smith, Great Britain
Fiorella Sturla, Peru
Kylh ristolounge
Carlo Schembri, Malta
Nicola Seta, Italia
Cecilia Taccia, Italia
Cleanic
Andrea Dal Ben, Italy
Lara Sardinha, Portugal
Paolo Savi, Sweden
Fah Sirivisal, Thailand
4 Elements
Beatriz Jurado, Spain
Linh Duong, Vietnam
Laura Santos, Portugal
Silvia Pianezzola, Italy
Ludicroom
Beatrice Bertani, Italy
Roberta Cernuschi, Italy
Sarah Elizabeth Howes, USA
Lynph
Adriana Barcos, Spain
Federica Ambrosioni, Italy
Sabrina dell'Oro, Italy
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