Café & restaurant
interior design.

We test it rather than guess. Table sizes, chair pull-out space and a service aisle a waiter can pass through with a tray all get drawn to scale, and we usually offer two seating options — a denser one and a more comfortable one — so you can see exactly what an extra six covers costs you.

More than most people budget for. A grease duct with a clear vertical route out, exhaust and fresh-air make-up, floor drains with the right fall, a wash zone separated from the hot line, and a service corridor where an outgoing dish never collides with an incoming plate. We plan that first and let the dining room take the space that is left.

Yes, and it is nearly always hard surfaces multiplying sound. Adding an absorptive ceiling or baffles, upholstery on banquettes, fabric or perforated panelling on one long wall, and breaking the volume with a partial screen will let two people at a table hear each other on a full evening.

By putting the lighting on separate, dimmable circuits from day one. Bright, even light for the daytime and takeaway trade; then the ambient level drops away in the evening and the pendants over the tables and the accent lights on the counter and back-bar carry the room.

The ones chosen for the wear point, not for the render. Anti-skid tiles behind the counter and in the kitchen, stainless or solid-surface where food is handled, a hardy edge on every table, and easily replaceable upholstery panels — because they will be replaced.

It is your best salesperson. A counter positioned in the entrance sightline with a lit display of what you actually want to sell — the pastries, the desserts, the merchandise — does more for the average bill than any menu redesign.