WERE YOU BORN IN A TENT

Saturday, 24 August 2013

OTSUMAMI

257 High St, Northcote

Visited: 22nd August 2013

Design: Classic 4 glass panel shop front door structure. No additional work appears to have been done to this door to add any character or theme to represent this Japanese restaurant apart from a takeaway menu holder attached to the left door frame. The frame consisted of black Aluminium framing, simple and solid with rectangular hand grips both on the exterior and interior. Signage was a little understated and hard to see from the street at night. This was balanced with a circular metal OPEN/CLOSED disc suspended from a small chain that jingled quite nicely against the glass when the door was opened, almost calming. Light resistance on the open swing and a very smooth fast return on the close assisted by a hydraulic arm which was very effective in keeping the cold winter air out. We sat by the door and I found it to be well sealed with very little draft sucking in once closed.

Door resistance: 3.5

Closure mechanism: Hydraulic arm

Draft: Minimal

Squeak level: 0

Change return time: 1.12 sec

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PROFESSIONAL DOOR REVIEWER

Searching the world for the perfect door to eat behind.

First impressions are always important, especially for a restaurant or cafe. So many people are focusing on the food these days that I felt there was a hole in the reviews world. No one was looking at the most important thing, THE DOOR! Everyone complains when it is left open, death stares are exchange when the unsuspecting group of friends having a fun night enter the premises from the cold only to walk straight in and go straight to their table totally oblivious they have left the door wide open to allow an arctic strength gale force wind to cut through the previously warm interior. Like a scene from a western film where everyone in the premises stops what they are doing and cuts down the new comers with a deathly stare. Occasionally you will get the confident diner who gets up, walks across the restaurant and closes the door with a BANG! Just to let the new comers know they have done wrong and to NEVER, EVER DO IT AGAIN!!!!! This individual makes their way back to the table staring at the newcomers, just to make sure they got the message. The only problem is, is that 5 minutes later another group come in and do the same thing and he/she feels obliged to continually do this for the rest of the night.

Well hopefully this blog puts a light on the owners of these establishments and encourages them to lift their game and create doors that allow diners to sit and enjoy their meal, to give the diner an experience before they enter the building. It is also a thank you to the makers of quality doors who care about craftsmanship.

I have developed a scoring system based on,

DESIGN:

This is assessed by the materials the door is made from, whether the door is themed, cluttered or minimal and whether there is an element of surprise or not.

DOOR RESISTANCE: 1 to 5

1 = light push

5 = heavy push

CLOSURE MECHANISM: Manual, automatic or

hydraulic arm

DRAFT: Minimal, medium or high

SQUEAK LEVEL: 0 up to 5

0 = No squeak

5 = Ear piercing

Then the last assessment is the,

CHANGE RETURN TIME:

This is the amount of time it takes to get my change once I have given the waiter the money for the bill. Last impressions are always just as important as first.