Design me a restaurant

Gault&Millau: For you, what is the starting point for a project?

Lucie Rosenblatt: Our customers' basic concept is obviously essential. That's what will determine whether or not we go ahead with the project. And then, because we like food ourselves, we want to know who's behind the project, and with what product sourcing. That's what we're looking for. So we need to have a feeling for the customers, who choose us as much as we choose them. Then there's the location and what we can bring to it. What we owe our customers is that people who walk past us get a stiff neck! It's the "Instagramable" effect. After that, it's up to them to keep them and win their loyalty with their food.

G&M: Do you have a common thread, a signature that links all your projects?

L. R.: Without having an overly repetitive style, we have an approach that's, let's say, retro, terroir - that's why we use old materials - which we try to contrast with a more futuristic vision. We're DPLG architects, not just decorators. We're really going to think about space planning. How are we going to cook? How are we going to welcome people? What's the scenography? What to show, what to hide? How do we get the chef to talk to the customers? Bear in mind that we're generally going to demand that the kitchen be in the middle of the restaurant, or at least very visible. All this will contribute to the project.

At the same time, we're going to choose one, two or three materials. But no more than that. We can't afford to get carried away; the message has to be very clear. Depending on the customer's concept - single-product, classic or Asian restaurant... - we'll see how we can refresh it, give it a kick, while retaining slightly retro, ancestral links. And from that, we end up with a contrast between being in 2022 - not the 1970s - in the way of making food, of entertaining, which was, in my opinion, somewhat inaugurated by what was called bistronomy.

G&M: Many of your projects are in direct contact with the outside world, with the street...

L. R.: We work on the principle that we never denature the building. Quite the contrary, in fact. We always try to give it back its historical aspect. We take out all the formwork from the 1960s or 1970s and redo the facade and the upper floors, using stone, for example, if the budget allows. But it also happens that the fishmonger who spends the day with his hands in the ice tells us he doesn't care about the facade. Well, we don't! We do it a lot in our food shops, a bit like at Rungis. We want everything to be visible. We like to know where the food comes from, and we're happy to have delivery crates under our paws. It gives customers confidence. Not putting up a front is also a way of bringing people in. Like the Dizen takeaway, which is 15 m2 and for which we applied the same plaster as the upper floors, but with a certain futuristic shape.

G&M: Would you like to do more luxurious, more established projects?

L. R.: It's true that our approach attracts a clientele that's 25 years old and just out of business school. They're young, it's their first project. And then things evolve, we follow them in their other openings, because we get on well and a loyalty develops. But we also do other types of project that take much longer to complete. We've just delivered a restaurant to the Okko Hotel in La Défense, and we're working on refurbishing the Labinal factory in Saint-Ouen. It's true that with food concepts, we're working at a much faster pace. Which is also very exhilarating. In six months, it's done! We often get frustrated with these small budgets, but it keeps us thinking.

G&M: What is the ecological dimension of your projects?

L. R.: As architects, we have a duty to advise and keep abreast of new technologies. When we have customers who go crazy about air conditioning, reversible heaters, etc., we tell them: "I'll fit you with a plug and a fan, and you'll be fine!"Similarly, we avoid processed materials as much as possible. We only use eco-friendly water-based paints. When we don't have the budget for furniture, we recycle. We avoid transport as much as possible, and try to use French materials, even though, to be perfectly honest, we work with quite a few Portuguese craftsmen. We also experiment with materials that aren't super elaborate, like the Dalia restaurant, where everything is made of clay. For the Octave wine cellar, we took brick and concrete and did the whole project with them. So, we restrict ourselves in terms of materials, which is also in line with our objective of staying within budget.

G&M: How do you enjoy working in the world of food?

L. R.: First of all, we're passionate about it! As a result, we can see ourselves in the future because we are the first customers. I also see a parallel with what we're trying to do: be creative while remaining in a slightly retro vein, keeping our bearings and know-how. We spend a lot of time on our building sites, and the passion, pain and anguish that we experience as a team are the same for our customers. We're all in the same boat, young people setting up their own business, just as we did a dozen years ago, at the age of 30, all on our own. Our businesses have a lot in common.