Christened after a genus of coriander and not the least ‘blue’ in spirit, the Blue Cilantro is a fine example of chic restaurant design amidst the current milieu of borrowed styles.
Designing a space, especially a restaurant, that is unimpeded by regular beams and columns across a clear 40-ft., wall-to-wall span, spurred Sanjay Puri’s perspective on depth and height at the Blue Cilantro. An unrestricted volume of space (with a 16 ft.-high ceiling) became the core of his design.
The 100 cover restaurant and bar occupies the ground floor of an industrial area in the suburbs of Mumbai. The semi-elliptical glass-front beckons you into a cocoon – clear lines and an uncluttered ambience set amidst white juxtaposed with GE Black sandstone flooring and light off-white furnishings. The wall at the back, near the dance floor (to the left), is a deep purplish-brown in colour. There is a ‘teppanyaki’ counter at the far end (to the right), before one moves down the ramp to enter the kitchen. A wooden walkway (simulating a floating pathway) crafted on a glass platform suspended one-and-a-half feet above the ground, sustains the extruded curve that blends the flooring, ceiling and wall.
Two distinct levels meet the eye. The bar lounge with a long bar counter and casual seating, mostly in fours, leads one to the softly-lit dance floor beyond, while two strategic points of entrance take one to the upper seating on a sheer glass platform.
Two basic seating arrangements, fixed and flexible, composed of Scandinavian-styled straight lined chairs - attired in simple Rexene – complement dark wooden tables. Dark Wenge clads the slightly inclined column (to complement the inclination of the curvilinear wall) and runs through the rest of the interiors, binding it as a cohesive feature.
The outstanding component that permeates the restaurant is the quality of its lighting. “There is no colour anywhere. Only light,” says Puri, who was helped on this project by his associate Gauri. Indirect lighting through light blue-tinted CFL tubes seeps through the flooring as well as the strategically-positioned slits in the sides and the ceiling, enhancing the graphic niches that are part of the arched gypsum blend, and shrouding the ambience in a sweep of blue. So much light filters through the floor that not a single light fitting is visible.
A corresponding play of texture subtly balances the bluish tinge in the black sandstone flooring, the light grey and off-white Rexene, dark wood and sheer glass. The fixed seating along one end holds cantilevered tables with their metal brackets fitted inside the walls. The niches here have been emphasised with a deep purplish brown texture, creating an element of décor as the tables appear to have been torn out of the wall.
Simple steps and a ramp guide the spatial flow across the 3,000 sq. ft. eatery, connecting the bar, upper area, dance floor and the utilities. Generically, restaurant design follows a staid path where individual pockets mark space and are eventually bound by a stream of commonality. The space here, however, has been deliberately played upon to appear larger than it actually is. The frontage is sheer glass and there is no visible partition anywhere.
