Terence Conran believes that in order to run a successful restaurant you have to "pay even more attention to the back-of-house design than the front-of-house", and this £1/4 million contract for kitchen and refrigeration came following Carford's successful designs for Conran's Zinc grills at Glasgow and Fulham.
| The project was undertaken in conjunction with architects from Conran and Partners. The key design decision was to create a central 'Open Kitchen' as the focal point of two separate restaurants, each with their own terraces.
Carford's Tony Perkins (Project Manager) commented: "It was a 15-week project from start to finish and Conran involved us right from the beginning, working alongside its architects, which helped the process run smoothly." The kitchens are on full display to the public, so the quality of the finishing is paramount. Subsequently the kitchen tops are marble and tiles have a better finish than usual. |
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The nature of the location posed its own problems that needed to be carefully considered. Being on the 4th floor, the installation was logistically difficult and the services had to come from the ceiling (the floor could not be used since the restaurant is directly above a swimming pool, part of the exclusive 'Reebok Sports Club').
Plateau now has a kitchen containing two island cooking suites for the fine dining restaurant and bespoke L-shaped cooking suite featuring a rotisserie for the Bar and Grill.
In addition, it includes separate pick up points for both restaurants and a marble mis-en-plas section. The final section was a bespoke BBQ area on one of the terraces.
Inside the Kitchen...
The central location of the kitchen effectively creates a partition between the Plateau (fine-dining) restaurant the Plateau Bar and Grill. With windows looking on to the dining public and doors that will be left open during service, diners will have a full view at all times.
Leading trade magazine Caterer & Hotelkeeper described the kitchen as "stunning", adding a "little theatre" to the Plateau experience.
Furthermore, Carford won the 'Restaurant' category for the Plateau project at the industries CEDA GRAND PRIX AWARDS.
Plateau Fine Dining Restaurant
Terrace BBQ Area
