WERE YOU BORN IN A TENT

Wednesday 22 January 2014

EVEREST INDIAN RESTAURANT

& WINE BAR

85 Station St, Fairfield

Visited: 7th January 2014

Design: Well, 2013 was a great year for doors, with so many amazing designs and variations. I am really excited about what 2014 will bring. What better way to start it off than with my first sliding door. There is something nice about the sliding door in that the opening space required is very minimal and the door itself practically disappears when open. The gentle sliding action is pleasing to enter and when it's a manual close the sensation of entering a building I think is heightened as you step through. With this door it was your standard aluminium framing, a design commonly found in the outer suburbs. Now this door design was not mind blowing in anyway but it held a retro childhood comfort in the colour and the ridged rows of horizontal lines that feature on the middle panel of the door. I liked the basic graphics of the directional hand next to the SLIDE DOOR sign in the centre. I did find the layout of the glass panels were very cluttered with the classic credit card (3 for mastercard) accepted stickers and The Age Good Food Guide references along with trading hours, phone numbers, menus and catering details. You kind of expect that with Indian restaurants though. I liked the red and blue of the neon that was replicated in reverse on the street sign. It appears that someone thought the window needed some wrapping paper design to fill in the gaps but only had one roll and ran out part of the way through. Good attempt though. The opening action of the slide was like an Indian train heading from Lucknow to Darjeeling, rickety but romantic in its journey. The sound was pleasant to the ear. There is little mystery here as you are given a full view of the interior. I liked the safety aspect of the BEWARE OF THE TRAINS mosaic on the footpath as the restaurant is located close to the crossing of Fairfield station.

There is a confusing duality with the signage in the fact that Mt Everest is located in Nepal, but hey, Australia stole Russell Crowe and Crowded House from New Zealand.

Door resistance: 3

Closure mechanism: Manual

Draft: Minimal

Squeak level: 1

Change return time: 44 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.