Feast for the eyes: Pedrali in miX Restaurant, Dubai

You are what you eat. But what about where you eat? In architectural terms, you are where you live. Or work. Or consume. Or play. In short, you are where you, well, are.

Identity is formed in many ways. Yet it's fair to say that how we choose to fashion ourselves in order to create our social identities has a lot to do with where we present ourselves. Where we elect to be seen on the public stage and to see others. Dining, for example, at spectacular restaurants is as much to do with being part of that very spectacle and taking pleasure in what such participation says about us, the social and cultural capital it lends us, as it is with eating well.

When it comes to spectacular dining, Alain Ducasse’s recently opened miX Dubai restaurant in the United Arab Emirates is up there with the best of them. The 400-seater, three-floored venue, with its opulent design scheme, serves up an experience worthy of the record-breaking, multi-starred French gastronomic genius. Authored by Manuel Clavel of Spanish architectural studio Clavel Arquitectos and housed in the Emerald Palace Kempinski, the venue can be characterised as a hybrid: luxe sophistication meets a radiant, quasi-futuristic aesthetic. The interior of the projects is connected with the exterior via outdoor terraces, which offer vistas to the sea.

Punctuating the centre of the various floors, as if levitating, is a giant egg-like golden form, which, at its apex, forms the hotel’s dome. As an architectural element, it’s certainly a statement. Beyond its reference to food, it screams luxury. (Elegantly, of course.) Inspired by the shape and texture of iconic Fabergé eggs, it measures over 20 metres in height.

But it’s not only this show-stopping macro element that defines the space. Fundamental to this staging is the furniture that’s been deployed to lend the restaurant landscape additional form, texture and colour. Premium Italian design brand Pedrali was one of the select handful of brands invited to be an actor, with its Ester armchairs and stools, its Vic stools and Laja armchairs all joining the cast. ‘All refined products in soft shades,’ says the manufacturer, ‘they respect the neutral background where the true art pieces are Chef Ducasse’s dishes.’

Ester – designed by Patrick Jouin and deployed in its armchair and stool variants – was specified for the dining room and lounge area, where its soft form and soft material (it’s upholstered in beige leather) signal comfort to diners before they’ve even sat down. Its sinuous, die-cast aluminium legs are also three-quarters leather-clad, while actual comfort is delivered via a seat made of polyurethane foam with elastic belts.

At the bar, Patrick Norguet’s Vic stools were also chosen for the generosity of comfort they signpost optically – something usually only an armchair is able to communicate – plus the actual comfort they provide. With upholstery available in either fabric or leather (Clavel Arquitectos opted for the latter for their project), any sense of heaviness is mitigated through the elegant articulation of the backrest, which reads almost as a separate element to the seat base, resting on it with a lightness of touch. The aperture at the back serves to create an effective visual levity.

The enveloping shape of Alessandro Busana’s Laja armchairs meanwhile, which seductively invites guests to sit with the promise of being cosseted, are also used in the dining area, their leather upholstery providing a continuity of design language. The legs are available in polished aluminium or powder-coated, with the back pair splayed, giving the whole piece a sense of movement forwards – which encourages diners to pull their chairs in towards the table. À table!

Dark dining may be a growing trend (reduce the lighting to heighten the taste buds), but in Dubai, Pedrali are clearly demonstrating how their products put the hospitable into hospitality.


All images: © pmonetta

© Architonic