The title of this blog may seem odd to your but in North America during the 19^th century, they actually did. Over the course of several years, trees were shaped until the shape resembled a chair then it was used, usually as a dining chair. Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec were fascinated by this concept and that’s how they came up with the Vegetal chair. Much like the plants and trees that it was originally designed on, the chair itself to a long time from the idea to manufacturing, 4 years to be precise.

The cafe chair itself is made from fibre-reinforced polyamide and has an irregular circle shape for the seat. The seat is made up of interweaving branches that are asymmetrical and random like the branches of a tree.

The chair can be an outdoor chair as it is made from polyamide; however will still look great as a café chair or dining chair. Not only this but the chairs are light weight so can be moved around easily and they are stackable chairs so they can be efficiently stored away.

It may seem like these chairs are actually made from a single mould, but you would be wrong. They have been carefully construct because due to its asymmetrical shape, it is very hard to judge how much weight it can take and the chairs true strength.

In the making process the brothers had a hard time creating the dining chair, firstly there were problems the structure, but once this was overcome, they then had problems with the comfort of the chair. The legs to the outdoor chair where also a problem as they needed to be integrated into the design of the chair as well as being strong. However after 4 years, the Vegetal chair was born.

When we look around at the chairs today, whether they are café chairs, office chairs, dining chairs or restaurant furniture, we can see a lot of the more designer ones are actually remakes of chairs that were designed 50 years ago. For example many of the chairs made by the Eames brothers in the 50s are still as popular as when they were first manufactured. There chair which is the subject of this blog post however is a chair that can be used for a host of applications. It can be a café chair, a restaurant chair, a meeting room chair or conference chair, even a dining room chair. The chair that I am talking about is the Paulistano chair.

Designed in 1957 by Mendes de Rocha in Sao Paulo Brazil, the chair won the 2006 Priztker Prize for design and has joined the ranks of other furniture items such as the Herman Miller Aeron chair for iconic furniture.

The café chair itself has been made from a single 17ft steel rod that has been bent using 200lbs of hydraulic pressure over 24 hours to make the framework of the chair. This is then welded in just one place and a leather cover made from almost an entire hide is that fitted to the chair to make the seat and back. The great thing about the leather used is that as time goes by, it adds depth and luster and comfort is never compromised. The chair can be easily adjusted by moving the leather sling up and down the frame to create either a slouching seat position or an upright seated position depending on the user’s preference. Due to the chairs quality and design it has become part of the permanent collection in the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA).

When you think of a nest, when I say this I mean bird’s nests, I am pretty sure that you wouldn’t think of a café. There is a designer who has and newly opened this year is a café based on it in Kiev Ukraine. Designer Sergey Makhno created the café called Twister is based on a nest in a rainy tree. The café is unique right down to the café furniture. The sofas and armchairs present although look uncomfortable due to the odd pyramid style texture, are actually very comfy and helps to give the impression of a cosy birds nest.

To further enhance the look of the restaurant the walls have been covered in sticks which give an impression of the interior of a nest. The restaurant also has a bar area as well with bar furniture, much like the restaurant furniture has been made to suit the rest of the cafes look and appeal.

The restaurant is on two levels with the second level having separate pod like areas that you can dine in that is supposed to represent ponds and lakes that further add to this café and restaurants unique design. Just above this are the lights that have been shaped like drops to represent the rain that is falling from the sky. The colours have all been chosen to help the diner feel more relaxed whilst seated in the restaurant where as the bar has little natural light which also emphasizes the feeling of a cosy surrounding.

It was the Eames brothers that first began experimenting with ply wood, and in particular how they can manipulate the wood to follow the contours of the body. You can see how successful they were with this by looking at some of the chairs that they designed over 50 years ago, that are still sold on the market today. A typical example of this is the Lounge chair originally crafted in 1956 and is a design that can still be seen around the world today. Even though this chair is heavily padded, you can see that detail of the frame and that it has been moulded into its unique design. It is not just domestic furniture that the Eames brothers were interested in. They also made café furniture and office furniture also.

It is no wonder then that these to extraordinary designers help to shape the way that we design furniture today. Designer Alfredo Haberli has obviously been inspired by the Eames brothers and you can see this in his latest creation, the Jill chair.

Is it a café chair or dining chair? The answer is both, the Jill chair has been designed to appeal to both commercial and domestic environments. The chair itself can be put alongside café tables or other restaurant furniture or can be used in a dining room; it will not look out of place. The chair comes in 3 different wood finishes, black beech, oak and walnut and also 5 different coloured frames as well. The frame itself has an intricate wire detail that can be resembled to the Wire chair by the Eames brothers. Not only has this but Alfredo has made use of state of the art plywood moulding technology to produce a contemporary and flexible wooden seat. All in all, this chair is a great modern piece of furniture inspired by the great Charles and Ray Eames.

When looking at refurbishing your café, a factor that most people think of when considering the furniture is how it will appear to their customers. It is important that the customers will be in a relaxed environment, with a soothing ambiance and a lot of this can be replicated by the type of furniture you choose. It is not only the décor that can affect the mood of the restaurant, but equally it is the furniture so obviously it is of the upmost importance that they work together. This may not mean that they have to necessarily match, they could contrast, but they must work well together.

Another factor that not many people may not of considered, is when planning their café environment is asking their employees about what they think. Most managers would be inclined to agree that keeping their staff content is one of the biggest factors in a successful business. It is almost if not as important as keeping your customers happy, as more often than not these are your customer’s first contact with the establishment and getting the right impression is key.

It can be quite beneficial in asking your staff what they think as they will and do spend most of the time on the front of house and know the place just as well as you do. They may be able to help advise you on what café tables and café chairs maybe best to suit your environment. They may also be able to help with the design and configuration of the restaurant, not only with the furniture indoors, but also outdoor furniture. They will be able to give you a good 2^nd opinion as this is the place they work. Not only this but it will help your staff to feel appreciated and feel like they are actually putting input into the place and which will give the a morale boost.

Weston-Super-Mare has always relied heavily on tourism with the area boasting a range of tourist activities. There is a rather vibrant café culture in the area, however new plans issued by the council may damage this. The proposed changes include, all food eaten outside is served by waiters, all outdoor furniture such as aluminium tables and outdoor chairs must be removed from Regent Street and food or drink cannot be served to anyone sitting down.

Businesses in the area currently holding street café licences were outraged by the proposals with one of the owners calling the new rules completely “gibberish”.

Café/bistro owners are worried that if they do not stick to these rules, they could have their licences revoked by North Somerset Council, whereas others, who own businesses on the Regent Street are more concerned with the business that they will lose particularly in the peak summer months.

A meeting held by the council’s licencing department, saw the discussion of the new rules, speaking at the meeting was Grand Pier and Waterfront Fish Bar owner Kerry Michael. He stood up for the café and business owners in the area saying that the new rules made no sense.

He added: “These plans are gibberish. That is possibly the widest thoroughfare in Weston, so if we cannot have tables and chairs there, how can they be allowed elsewhere?

“We want to be able to sell what we want to our customers, when they want and we don’t want the local authority telling us what we can and can’t do.”

It seems it was not only Mr Michael that was concerned over the new plans, Andreas Macrides, co-owner of La Costa bar and restaurant said that if the outdoor café furniture was taken away, there will not be enough space for people along Regent Street and more litter will accumulate as a consequence.

Following the meeting that was held on 8/11/11, officers will be having a consultation that ends on the 25^th of November where they may amend the proposal, however as it stands at the moment the changes will be implemented at the beginning of next year.

Changes in season are an influential time for restaurants and cafes. It does not just mean that the menus and food changes, but restaurant owners should think about the ambiance of the environment, perhaps even the café furniture or restaurant furniture. Patrons and regulars of restaurants tend to get bored quickly so updating the décor and feel of your restaurant/café/bistro is imperative for business. Much like the fashion industry restaurant furniture has different styles and trends that are dependent on the sentiment and the season.

When choosing your furniture it is important to think about the type of restaurant you are running and trying to replicate that feeling. For example if you are running a chinese restaurant, you don’t want the furniture or décor to look like you sell pub food. You will be surprised just how much the furniture will complement the restaurant, in regards to the overall experience. The reason for this is that it has been scientifically proven that taste is related to visual stimulation, so even if you have the most amazing gourmet cuisine, if you are serving it in a dark and dingy area, then the whole experience will be severely compromised.

What you need to remember that trends, even in the world of hospitality go in and out of style. It is therefore advisable, if you want to flow a trend, to make sure that you can adjust the style of the restaurant/dining area as cheaply and efficiently as possible. For example instead of changing the tables, why not think about changing the table cloths instead.

For the most part, you want to find furniture that you cannot date and will stay appealing not matter how much you want to change the décor. Aluminium chairs and aluminium tables are a good example of this. They can be used in all different types of cafes and restaurants as well as being used indoors and outdoors. Aluminium chairs are usually stackable and are light weight so can be used easily to change the configuration of your restaurant or bistro, whenever you need to. Also these chairs can be cleaned easily so they will last a long time and for a reasonable price as well.

The world has changed (for better or worse, I can’t decide) since the invention of social media networks. Not only can you get in contact with people that you have not seen for years, but you can actually follow them and see what they are doing in their day to day lives. Not only has this but it been a good chance for business to advertise themselves with some even being able to contact their customers through networks such as Facebook.

There is one craze that has come from these the creations of such social media networks is pop-up restaurants. The idea is that groups are set up on Facebook or Twitter that potential diners can follow to find out the restaurants next location and make online reservations. When the spot is picked, the restaurant is set up with outdoor furniture whether it is folding aluminium chairs and café tables or just plain café chairs or café tables and then the area functions like a normal restaurant. After the diners have left, all the furniture is packed up and the area is cleared as if nothing had been there.

This type of “fine dining” is actually a great way of young chefs to show off their skills in the hospitality field. The reason for this is that the young professionals are given the opportunity to show off their skills to potential investors in the hope of securing some kind of restaurant in the future. It is not just open areas that pop up restaurants are using. It’s underused or abandoned warehouses and former factories as well as private homes. This is also a great opportunity for young chefs to get to use professional equipment giving them practice before using the real thing. It looks like this type of dining is here to stay so look out for one in a town near you!

You would have thought that cafes located near to the Olympic grounds would be pleased that the Olympic Games were being held near their grounds as the business received from the tourists would actually be beneficial, however you would be wrong. There are increasing concerns that the games would actually cause disruption to their business. Tom Seaton who owns a small café within a stone’s throw from the park commented:

“From the local community’s point of view, the sooner the Olympics are gone, the better,” Together with his sister Seaton converted a derelict warehouse into the Counter Café. The rustic rundown look was kept with most of the expense was invested in the café furniture, the café tables and café chairs. This has over time become a hotspot for the arty trendy community from Fish Island just across from the park located near to the café.

The Games will begin on the 27^th July 2012 and continue to through to the 12^th August. This means that during this period the area outside the stadium will be occupied by security and huge numbers of people. The likely situation is that he will have to close his outdoor seating area and bring in all of his outdoor furniture including his aluminium chairs and aluminium tables as the area will be too crowded. This in turn will decrease the amount of people he can seat and therefore decrease business. Who would want to sit outside and eat or drink coffee in the middle of a crowd?

Not only this, Seaton also owned another café very close to the main stadium is being forced to close during the games which will mean a loss of business in a peak time during the summer.

Peter Vlachos an expert on events management at Greenwich University believes that the businesses close to the games will suffer. Though there is little evidence to go on about the Games doing this, there is evidence on related research that suggests that those who own businesses that are close to the hub, even if it is a positive one, are likely to suffer.

It seems that while the majority of people will be welcoming the games next year, there are some that worry for their businesses and their livelihood. Some thought should be taken in trying to protect local businesses and perhaps even compensating them for the loss of businesses, particularly those that tend to thrive in the summer months.

This type of furniture is arguably one of the most popular type of product within it’s industry. One of the main reasons for this is its versatility. Outdoor furniture can be used for bars, cafes, restaurants as well as for the public for gardens, patios, swimming pool areas, with people even opting to keep the same furniture inside as well. So what is the reason for this passion of outdoor furnishings? The answer is quite a simple one; we like to spend time outdoors.
The most important point to mention when thinking of purchasing outdoor furniture is the quality of the material. This comes in a variety of materials for example aluminium, stainless steel, natural wood, abs and ratten, but it is vital for the furnishings survival that you treat it with anti-rusting or treated appropriately to avoid deterioration, rendering it useless.
Steel and aluminium are very common materials used for making outdoor furniture , however can be prone to rust. To make sure this doesn’t happen, the metal must be soaked in acid to remove any rusting agents, galvanized before a high grade powder coat is applied. This is all before you should apply your own treatment.
Synthetic ratten has become one of the most popular materials to use. The frame is usually made out of metal with the seat and back made from the material. The reason for its use is for a number of reasons. Among these are that it does not deteriorate as quickly as natural ratten, it can come in a variety of colours and it can also be made with a UV resistant material.