Jamie’s Italian restaurants are opening all over the UK … some 30 of them actually. Also Dubai, Singapore, Sydney and Perth. He has more recently collaborated with design company Blacksheep on their design. There seems to be a trend in restaurant design … it is all about the sensory experience … taking you to a place … a country … it’s not just all about the food. The fitout is authentic in what they are trying to achieve. Justin Hemmes in Sydney is on a similar trajectory with each new restaurant he opens outdoing the last in authenticity … think The Fish Shop and Mr Wong.
For Jamie it was all about the environment having the ‘neighbourhood feel’. Taking inspiration from the Italian Table where one relaxes, shares and enjoys each others company.
This is modern italian over two levels with openness … broken up into different spaces each with a different dining experience. I do love these vintage chairs from Tolix … they are everywhere and so ‘of the moment’. Every smart new restaurant and cafe has them … in one form or another … either vibrant colours or straight galvanized. They work in any interior … slick, bistro or industrial street furniture. I love them and tracked them down at Thonet, Sydney.