WERE YOU BORN IN A TENT

Tuesday 1 October 2013

ST EDMONDS

Rear 154 Greville St, Prahran

Visited: 12th September 2013

Design: A simple black steel framed door with a u-tube stainless steel lever handle, that was nice on the hand. Slight resistance on the open with this one, not uncomfortable though. The closure was guided by a hidden hydraulic system that I found delightful. The return was a medium pace, fast enough to keep a wintery breeze out and a slight bang at the end on the final close. I could say a little too loud to be comfortable however, the thing I found unique about this door is that it was deceiving. It looks like your average cafe door, it opens like any other cafe door, but yet the bang at the end of the closure replicated the sound of wooden bank door in a country town. How can this be? I listened intently every time someone left the building. Bang!! again, Bang!! again. I was instantly taken back to my childhood in the old Westpac of my home town. When I began reviewing doors, I never once thought the sound of a door could invoke such memories or even mimic the sound of another door.

The distressed brick and sleepy birds graffiti, work well with the black hard edge of the door frame. I kind of like the random cross bar in the lower half of the window to break up the symmetry. The reflection on the glass is enough to keep a sense of mystery on the interior from the outside. Not too much is revealed upon arrival. The simple lines and the minimal spearmint green title and opening hours allow this door to almost vanish or even camouflage itself amongst the endless textures that surround it. I like the slight worn patch on the bottom left, which I hope is from years of foot traffic rubbing against it upon entering.

Factual history: The town of Saint Edmond in the centre east of France is

10.38km2

The nearby cities and towns of Saint Edmonds are:

Saint-Martin-de-lixy at 2.35km

Saint-Maurice-les-Chateauneuf at 3.24km

154 Same as the address. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Door resistance: 2.5

Closure mechanism: Hidden hydraulic system

Draft: Minimal

Squeak level: 0

Change return time: 33 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.