WERE YOU BORN IN A TENT

Wednesday 17 December 2014

400 GRADI

99 Lygon St, Brunswick

Visited: 11th December 2014

Design: Dark, brooding and a little gothic was the feeling as we approached the entrance to 400 Gradi. Back to black again, but this time in a big way. If you cross the road on a diagonal to approach Gradi, it almost feels like a powerful black locomotive is coming at you. The arch and steel pillars of the front cover guide you in. The wrap around floor to ceiling windows encasing the building give you a full view of the action inside. The door consisted of a simple black frame with frosted glass panels at the top set in an asymmetrical frame. One panel glass in the door and a simple L-shaped tubular handle, put it amongst your standard shop front doors. It was more the view from the street at night that really made it stand out and come alive. With the terracotta coloured brick pavers and the Vespa parked out front, one could only visualise a balmy night in Northern Italy.

Door resistance: 2

Closure mechanism: Hydraulic arm

Draft: Minimal

Squeak level: 0

Change return time: 52 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.