Seeing the light
The kitchen and service area
RUSTY metal and railway sleepers are what turn Andrew Radford on. He blames his stint as a chef on the Royal Scotsman. Now chef proprietor of Edinburgh's stylish new restaurant, the Atrium, Radford has done what many only dream of: he has designed his own restaurant, and now surveys his handywork from the open-plan kitchen.
On a wet Monday lunchtime in March, the place is buzzing. Smart suits and horn-rimmed spectacles mix with coiffured ladies-who-lunch. Flickering oil lamps throw shadows on the ochre walls and rusted panels, creating an intimacy that fuels the animated chatter. More Greenwich Village, New York, than Edinburgh, the ground-floor restaurant stands out from the stark, clinical lines of its host building Saltire Court, or "the Drum" as this office block is affectionately known.
Ten months and several rosy reviews down the line, the Atrium has established a reputation of which 36-year-old Radford is justifiably proud. The much-lamented closure of Waterloo Place, where he was head chef, "was the kick we needed". Together with his wife, Lisa, they found the site, then tackled the finances.
"We dragged it round the banks who were all a bit reluctant. A risky business, restaurants, they said. Then we were introduced to somebody actually in the same building: NatWest.
"The bank had faith in the building and confidence in me. So we put up our flat as security together with various other personal guarantees. And though everything is on the line, there are no other strings attached; it's literally just my wife and I."
They began with a budget of ú100,000. "Actually we went over that, but not by too much - another ú20,000," explains Radford. "It was a tight budget, but we enjoyed that. you're forced to be more creative. The whole thing really came together around that lamp," he says, pointing to the restaurant centrepiece - a confusion of twisted metal planted with cone-shaped oil lamps.
The Radfords found the lamp before they found the restaurant. "We always said if we get our own place we'll put this in it." The earthy tones and rough aesthetics of the lamp set the mood for the interior. It was designed and hand-blown by an American, Ed Iglehart, who lives on the west coast of Scotland, and the wire that cups the lamps was the work of his son, Tom. The centrepiece retails at around ú2,000, and the cone-shaped lamps, also used on the tables, cost ú40. "We got a good deal because this is a great showcase for Ed's work," says Radford. "He has sold a serious number since we opened."
The project was code-named Atrium on the original plans, and it stuck. "The dictionary says it can mean the heart of a Roman house, usually used for eating," explains Radford. "I think there is something kind of Romanesque about the building."
Fired by Radford's ideas, the interior was put together with the help of Edinburgh architect John Grounsel "who held my hand", and friends such as Steve Jones from Fantastic Fabrications who acted on Radford's suggestions, experimenting with rust patterns for the wall panels and putting the tables together.
"They are real sleepers," Radford says, stroking the large table in the centre of the room. "This is a full- length one. As I was chugging round Scotland on the Royal Scotsman, I used to lean out of the window at stations and think, gosh, those are wonderful bits of wood.
"More and more were being ripped up and replaced with concrete ones, and I started thinking what I could use them for." After a few false starts - the majority of sleepers were Edwardian pine and soaked in creosote that stank - Radford discovered a pile stashed at "the back of a little old man's place in Edinburgh" made of hard-wearing Australian yarrow. Costing ú10 each, they were then fitted with steel bases - about ú90 each - sanded down and varnished.
As his wine glass slips across the polished but uneven surface, Radford enthuses: "You see, it's all part of this ‘rough look'. The tables will get better and better - and an added bonus is that you don't need tablecloths."
The pale cream canvas (which is theatre backdrop fabric) on the chairs and sofas relieves the heavy dark wood tables and cavernous space. In retrospect, Radford admits that the chairs were a false economy. Having sourced them at the International Furniture Fair in Cologne where, at ú120 each, they were above his budget limits, he worked out a deal for the frames only and had the fabric made up in Edinburgh. "They're beginning to tire a little. I think we should have paid a little more and had the proper covers," he ponders, "but they've lasted nearly a year and I think they'll last another year". Lisa has half a dozen in the wash every few days.
The same fabric is used in the "sails" suspended across half the ceiling. These serve as light reflectors as well as concealing the air-conditioning system - the most expensive single item. "We had figured on ú8,000 for this but it was closer to ú20,000," says Radford, "which goes hand in hand with the fact that we are in the middle of a building with no outside walls." As a result of this expense Radford was forced to compromise in the kitchen. "But it worked out well in the end," he says. "Falcon Catering did a good job."
The coffered roof is actually the floor from the office above, left bare to gain as much height as possible. "From a budget point of view it was great because all we had to do was wash it over with a bucket of brown paint."
Money was saved on the ceiling lights, which double as emergency lighting. It was John Grounsel who found the lights which are supplied by one 150W bulb and incorporate a hidden projector sending light down a series of fibre-optic cables. It was Radford's idea to use copper to cover the cables, and Grounsel's to use the canvas as shades to soften the light.
"Two or three days before we opened we were outside with a plumber's bending spring shaping the lights over our knees. John said he had never had clients so actively, or painfully, involved as we were!"
An economy measure that Radford is particularly proud of is the floor. "Everybody told us this would never work in a restaurant. It's literally just marine plywood, about an inch thick, put down in random lengths and widths." Marine is the same quality back and front, so when an area of flooring becomes worn it can be unscrewed and flipped over. "That's the theory anyway. If it gets particularly bad we can replace it with steel, which is what we have done between the restaurant and kitchen."
Another idiosyncratic feature is the coat stand. Based on a sketch sent to suppliers, Houston's of Cupar, it is a 7ft cylindrical steel tube with 40 arms clustered around the top. The same goes for the ice bucket stands - smaller rusted cylinders - with a thick piece of rope attached around the top for manoeuvrability. "Steve [Jones] reckons there's a market for all this stuff, especially the tables. We should start selling it."
Glynn Stevens, Young Scottish Chef of the Year, rolls in for the evening's shift. He is one of a team of three in the kitchen "with no pecking order". First customers will be the pre-theatre crowd. Apart from the Traverse theatre, housed within the same building, there is the adjacent Usher Hall and the Lyceum theatre around the corner. "It hasn't really hit us yet but it is becoming more apparent how good a location we've got," says Radford.
Assistant manager, Lara Kearney presses Radford for the evening menu which changes twice-daily. Today's choice include salad of duck confit with spiced sausage, salsa and garlic oil, ú6.50, wood pigeon, parsnip and parsley, ú14.50 and chocolate truffle cake with orange sorbet ú4.50.
As Radford surveys the restaurant he remarks: "I wish I could walk in and see it fresh. Having seen it build up over the months, I've lost it a bit. We were very anxious not to over-design it. It should be uncluttered, a nice place to eat." He stands thoughtful for a moment, then strides over to one of the sculptures dotted about the room and removes it. o
TABLE:
The Atrium,
Cambridge Street, Edinburgh, Lothian EH1 2ED,
tel: 031-228 8882
Contacts
Ed Iglehart (0556) 60200
Fantastic Fabrications 031-557 5787
Houston's of Cupar (0334) 55331
Falcon Catering (0324) 554221
