It's all very well putting great food on the plate, but if the place you're eating in looks like a dog's dinner, then there's no question that it detracts from the joy of eating out. Good restaurant design is what the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards aims to recognise. As voting for this year's awards comes to a close, the organisers have teamed up with the Royal Institute of British Architects [RIBA] to put on Design Bites - a series of talks and tours linking eating and drinking with cutting edge design.
Over the course of the next few months, a series of tours will take place at London restaurants and bars. The aim is to explore the link between the design, cuisine and experience of dining spaces, appealing to foodies and design enthusiasts alike.
The programme's inaugural event, Design Bites Talk, takes place at RIBA on Portland Place on 14 June with speakers including Fergus Henderson, Ab Rogers (the designer behind Pizza Express and Little Chef), Andrew Waugh (architect of energy efficient restaurants Acorn House and Water House) and Noel Hunwick (Director of techno-restaurant Inamo). Once the speakers have talked about their approach to restaruant design, there'll be panel discussion before opening out questiosn to members of the public.
Reader offer - save £3 on tickets:
Hot Dinner readers can take advantage of concession rates for the talk at the reduced price of £5.50 per person (rather than £8.50). Book via the RIBA website (choose the concessionary rate when booking). There'll also be the chance to eat at the RIBA restaurant that night where a special menu has been created by Arthur Potts Dawson of The People’s Supermarket. Talk attendees receive a 10% discount on food on the evening of 14th June.
Win dinner at RIBA
In celebration of the launch of Design Bites, RIBA are offering one lucky Hot Dinners reader a complimentary meal for two people at the RIBA restaurant after the Design Bites talk on 14 June. The prize includes a three course meal for two people (beverages not included), only valid for the night of the 14th June 2011 in the RIBA restaurant. This offer is not valid in conjunction with any other promotions and does not include free entry to the Design Bites talk.
To enter all you have to do is follow us on Twitter and retweet this sentence 'I've just entered the Design Bites competition on Hot Dinners.' We'll pick the winner on Monday 13th June and inform them that same day.
