WERE YOU BORN IN A TENT

Tuesday 1 April 2014

IL PIZZAIOLO

163 Darebin Rd, Thornbury

Visited: 19th February 2014

Design: Every now and then a door comes along that changes your life, for me, this could be the one. This is the first door I have driven past and wanted to come back just to review the door. Normally I pick a venue I like and go not knowing what to expect. Once I saw this door, I couldn't get it out of my mind and even now weeks after I have been there, I still think about it. I can't stop thinking about it and how it made me feel.

I think I'm in love.

The beautiful rustic rawness of the natural oiled timber and a soft varnish finish to bring out that rich golden quality of the grain and its knots. The fact they have left the cross-hatch blade marks of the saw is recycled brilliance. Sanding back just enough to reveal the softness of the grain and the touch of the craftsman signature. This combined with the black framing and the dark tinted windows allows it to glow, day and night. The rich canary yellow of the slick signage, simply placed to the left so as not deter your view is the ultimate touch. This scene to me could almost be out of the Milan Design Festival, showcasing the best of Italian Design. I found the door to have a significant authority and the bespoke hand beaten curved steel handles added to its substantial weight and feel on the open. An amazing resistance that makes you feel the door upon entering. Silent and smooth, the return to close is like watching the challenger dock at the International Space Station. Two tarnished steel support bars vertically bookend the panels of the door giving it even more strength. With a small stainless steel lock on the left there are no distractions giving you full appreciation of this object and its existence. The back of the door, (interior) keeps its simplicity with another similar door handle and another bespoke handcrafted bolt lock that one would find on a German castle door. Absolutely exceptional.

Wunderbar!!

Door resistance: 4.5

Closure mechanism: Hydraulic arm

Draft: Minimal

Squeak level: 0

Change return time: 46 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.