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When the Taj was planning to set up its Japanese fine diner Wasabi in the Capital, they wanted the interiors to go with Masaharu Morimoto’s menu that went all out contemporising Japanese cuisine and brought out such things as tenderloin steak tossed with wasabi-coated tiger prawns. So they rang up Mario and Theo, a UK-based design firm. Mario and Theo Nicolaou had worked for major airlines like the British Airways and the Virgin Atlantic, and the Taj thought the Nicolaou brothers would be ideal to create a look that would make anyone from Tokyo, New York or New Delhi feel at home.
“The first impression of a restaurant should stimulate the palate even before a morsel is served,” says Theo, 40. He and younger brother Mario, 35, lit up Wasabi, which did not have enough natural light, with dramatic lighting — a mix of concealed LED lighting, coffered ceiling zones and flute chandeliers — and clad the walls with dark timber panelling to create a rich and moody backdrop. They contrasted it with a carved wall finished in white. Yin and yang, perfect to quaff mildly warmed sake.
The Taj, impressed with the brothers, got them to go OTT for Varq, their Indian restaurant at the Taj Mahal Hotel, as well. Mario and Theo say they wanted the entrance to Varq to resemble the opening of a giant trinket box that unveils a surprise within. It was to this effect that they made a black, lattice frame that encases circular, beveled, glass apertures with ruby red glass in the hollows. And to go with the name Varq, meaning edible gold or silver foil, they decked up the ceiling with gold leaf patterns. “For both the restaurants, we wanted a design that could marry Indian and international aesthetics. It is partly due to their design that our restaurants are running successfully,” says Digvijay Singh, general manager, Taj Mahal.
Priya Paul, chairperson of the Park Hotels, which is one of the early players to work with overseas firms, says sometimes a foreign hand is essential. Three years ago, she had got the UK-based design firm Conran and Partners to give the restaurants a youthful facelift. “We had to give the Park property a vibrant look representing emerging India. We incorporated it through our choice of colours, patterns and use of traditional Mughal screens,” says Richard Doone, managing director, Conran & Partners, who admits the task was challenging.
While it is not unusual to find foreign designers working for hotel chains, it is rare to find them doing up standalone restaurants. Restaurateurs argue that the exorbitant fees of a foreign design firm acts as deterrent. “Very few standalones hire foreign talent. In the case of a hotel, they have to maintain a certain class and they go all out hiring the best,” says Manav Sharma, owner of Ploof. The upcoming lounge bar, Mannekin, at Greater Kailash I, owned by restaurateur Mandeep Kohli, is an exception — but then it is designed by Kohli’s close friend, the American architect Michael Janson. Better known for designing the cigar outlet Cingari at The Oberoi. Janson, 38, is combining exotic materials like seashells and compelling photographs, offset by trendy furniture. “When someone dines out, he is looking to mentally travel the world,” says Janson, who took two years to finalise the concept. A year ago, he had designed Kohli’s French fine dining restaurant, Café De Paris, inspired by Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame Du Haut chapel, at Ronchamp, France. Eat from these foreign hands.
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