The transformation from restaurant address The Bailey to 91 Bree Street has been a vast reimagining of an urban space. As usual, Liam and Jan Tomlin had many ideas percolating, and Liam worked closely with his best friend architect and interior designer Lawrence Holmes, who founded Cape Town’s hugely impactful Inhouse Design, which was once next door to 91 Bree Street. Good mates for years, it’s the first time they’ve collaborated on a project.
From Lawrence Holmes: “They say one should never work with close friends. But not so with Liam and Jan Tomlin of Chefs Warehouse. As a creative it’s been a pleasure working with these professional restaurateurs who are also very creative. We encouraged each other every step of the process to create busy vibrant spaces offering a variety of style, pace and comfort within one large space. Something for everyone. See you there for lunch dinner and or casual drinks and snacks at Merchant.”
Design Elements
The brief was to completely redo the existing space so that all three levels would look like entirely different rooms, and cater to many different types of experiences. Liam and Jan wanted to make the interior as a whole to be less formal and traditional, and more industrial, modern and urban edgy. It needed to feel honest, with the gravitas of the building yet comfortable and stylish for today’s diners. Something that would appeal to guests from a wider age range, from Millennials to Boomers. And something that reflected more of Liam’s personality and experiences as well as his love of fine art and design.
There are three different concepts here – the back-to-the-original Chefs Warehouse & Canteen, the new Merchant Bar & Grill, and Room 91. Each had to have its own distinct look, but all come together under one roof, and therefore needed to feel related to each other. In its previous identity, the Tomlins felt it lacked an easier sense of movement; the design vision was to create a sense of flow on each level and throughout the building.
Furniture was created for all three levels by Naturalis, founded by Sandalene Dale Roberts.
Staircase and Chandelier
Paramount to the new concepts was the build of a steel staircase with wood treads, connecting Chefs Warehouse & Canteen with Merchant Bar & Grill, through the middle of the two restaurants. Firstly, this means that Merchant Bar & Grill guests enter through Chefs Warehouse & Canteen and walk through the dining room before going up the staircase to Merchant Bar & Grill. There’s an immediate vibe as soon as they walk in the front door, and ascend. It also means that there’s much greater awareness in Chefs Warehouse & Canteen that there is an exciting restaurant upstairs.
The staircase has created a light-filled atrium with dramatic views of the restaurants from above and below. A highlight of the new space is the chandelier suspended from above the staircase in Merchant Bar & Grill. Bailey customers might remember the white ceramic artworks that were on the dining room wall. The works are a series called The Butchery, created by Cape Town-based Ceramic Matters. Each piece is individual, largely kitchen and butchery-inspired – a chicken, a cleaver, a leg of lamb, a tube of tomato paste, venison horns, sausages, garlic, whole fish, trotters, chicken feet – as well as a few comical items like a paintbrush and a rat. Lawrence envisioned fashioning a large chandelier out of these works, that would be illuminated. Liam and Lawrence worked on this idea and ultimately took it to Lau Hearne of Monfalcone Design who created the whimsical chandelier that is lit both from above and with low, white tubes.
Chefs Warehouse & Canteen – Ground floor
Liam and Jan wanted the feeling of the original Chefs Warehouse & Canteen to be recreated, with its dark moody look, more exposed brickwork and industrial feel, and more communal seating. Portions of the floor and columns have been retiled with black tiles, window frames have been painted white and there are smoky mirrors along some of the walls. The seating is entirely different, with a wide variety of types. At the centre of the restaurant is a long wood table with barstools taking a cue from the original Chefs Warehouse & Canteen with its communal dining, complete with the old uncomfortable stools! Other seating includes simple contemporary white round and rectangular wood-topped tables with both plain and leather upholstered bench and chair seating. A few of the Tomlins’ favourite contemporary paintings adorn the space, including four dramatic works by Hermann Niebuhr and many paintings and ceramics by artist Paul du Toit, who was a close friend of the couple. On the landing next to the bar are two other seating areas: the large rectangular family table with Paul du Toit white and black graphics and in the alcove, a series of banquettes under smoky mirrors. The mirrors create a vibrant multi-dimensional effect in the room.
Other highlights are the two well-stocked wine cellars, one on either side of the restaurant. The main walk-in wine cellar is glass enclosed, softly-lit and visible from the dining room. It holds Tomlin’s extensive wine collection along with wines for service in the restaurant.
Another nod to the original Chefs Warehouse & Canteen, with its cookbook-filled retail space and where Liam sold his own cookbooks, is the colourful Cookbook Library, which houses part of Liam’s enormous cookbook collection, as well as partner David Schneider’s. There are hundreds of titles, which Liam has arranged without their jackets, by colour – the windowed room overlooks the dining room and is a vibrant talking point.
A glassed in entrance provides a more defined and dramatic entrance, and a new fireplace gives warmth to the room.
Merchant Bar & Grill – First Floor
The culinary identity of Merchant Bar & Grill is old-school modern. It will feature producer-driven cuisine, and is centred around David Schneider’s vision and baby, The Larder. This is a visually stunning glassed-in temperature and ventilation controlled room containing beautifully stocked shelves of house-cured meats and charcuterie, cheeses and preserves, along with dry cured sausages, pancetta and other meats that hang from butcher hooks. It is the first thing one sees as you enter the room from the staircase and a visual cue of what is to come. A long table with fridge underneath houses the extensive collection of cheeses from small producers. Guests will be invited to The Larder to have a look at the cheeses, charcuterie and other house-made preserved and fermented products.
Another benefit of the new staircase is that there is now a footpath all the way around it, with visibility of Chefs Warehouse & Canteen from above.
The bar is an inviting space that can be separated from the dining room by a soft mustardy-gold curtain. It was an important consideration of the design to have a range of seating so that there was something for everybody, from low round upholstered black ottoman stools around tables to sleek leather banquette seating and barstools around the bar. To the side is a lounge area with large brown Chesterfield leather couches and a wall of private liquor lockers – it has a sliding door and can be closed off for private get togethers.
In the dining room, there are several different seating areas, some more open and others more private. In the centre is a long upholstered banquette with an ocean liner-inspired design, facing dark leather banquettes that run along the Bree Street wall, with round tables and comfortable leather chairs in the middle. There is a smaller, quieter area of seating off to the side, overlooking the staircase.
The room is beautifully lit with hidden LEDS, pendant lighting and sculptural wall lights randomly positioned on the exposed brick walls – these are pieces of hanging art themselves. There are also a number of pieces by Jero Revett, the Wildwanderer, who makes Gyotaku artworks of the day’s catch with the ink of the octopus and cuttlefish he catches. The floors are deeply stained wood parquet and there is a fireplace for cooler evenings.
Room 91 – Second Floor
Room 91 is the Chefs Warehouse self-contained private events space, on the top level, overlooking Bree Street. It is an easily adaptable multi-level indoor-outdoor space that can be used for anything from cocktail parties to launches to meetings to wedding receptions and sit-down lunches and dinners. The key attraction, besides the vibrant CBD setting, is that it is a space for events where Chefs Warehouse cuisine is served. It’s a versatile room that has been designed to be a blank canvas for events of all kinds.
An important design decision was creating a separate entrance to this space from Bree Street, so that guests would not have to walk through the restaurants. The indoor space is split-level, with warm muted colours, classic dark wood parquet floors and dimmable LED lighting to create a range of moods. The lower level has a marble-topped wooden bar, an elegant place for drinks service, with its generously stocked selection of premium drinks. It can easily be separated from the room with a curtain. It has a demarcated stage area and facilities for large screen TVs, and is ideal for meetings and gatherings.
The upper landing area has the same classic look, and opens onto a large balcony via a long panel of sliding glass doors. It is perfect for dining, both on its own, or in tandem with the adjoining outdoor space.
The open balcony is an inviting plant-filled outdoor area connected to the city below. With beautiful views up and down Bree Street, and of nearby Signal Hill and Table Mountain, it places guests right in the middle of The Mother City, with its stunning mix of urban and natural glory. It is furnished with 3 x 6-8 seater wood-topped stainless steel long tables (which can be combined to seat 24) and stools, all on wheels, which makes the room easily adaptable.
On 91 Bree Street
The transformation of 91 Bree Street has very much been a group effort, with design lead by Liam, Jan and Lawrence, culinary input from Liam, Dave and Adrian Hadlow – the three generations of chefs who have visualised this exciting showcase for great and honest food, from the global cuisine of Chefs Warehouse & Canteen to the old-school modern producer-lead philosophy behind Merchant Bar & Grill, to the versatile events space at Room 91.
Key to the development of this space and its practical and seamless capacity to service guests are Rachel Nicholson, General Manager of 91 Bree Street who has worked with the Tomlins since the launch of the original Chefs Warehouse & Canteen, and Taras Payne, Food and Beverage Manager of 91 Bree Street (and General Manager of The Red Room). Both have worked extensively in this space, from the days of The Bailey until now, know every nook and cranny and have years of valuable hospitality experience and input.
Chefs Warehouse and Canteen opens on Wednesday, 7th August from Noon for lunch service – trading lunch and dinner from a Monday to a Saturday. Merchant Bar & Grill opens on the 13th from 6pm for dinner service (the bar opens from 5pm) – trading from a Tuesday to a Saturday, exclusively dinner.
For bookings, call, +27 (0) 21 773 0440, email 91breestreet@chefswarehouse.co.za or go online to www.chefswarehouse.co.za