The Manor, Clapham

Chef, Robin Gill, opens The Manor

An update for this post. Since writing this The Manor has reinvented itself as Sorella. Same team and a different culinary direction.

If you remember I was down in London for a busy weekend of shooting. The second assignment was for Chef Robin Gill who was opening his new restaurant, The Manor. After I photographed The Dairy, Robin commissioned me to shoot full coverage of interiors, some of the menu dishes and casual portraits of the team.

I had a brief to work with but other than a handful of shots I was given free rein to shoot as and what I liked. What a cool way to work, and with Robin and his team you can feel the anticipation and excitement that was flowing through the restaurant. It hadn’t even had a soft opening at this point and there was almost an audible buzz around the tables.

There’s a similar feel to The Manor that The Dairy has, but at the same time, distinctly different, almost like the evolution of an idea, which I suppose it is. Different materials and textures all around, personal and tactile, inviting you to engage and take the time to enjoy. All this before you even get to the food, which, as you’d expect, is soul-stirring, deliciouscity.

Interior shots were fairly straight forward, when a restaurant is at this stage you find yourself moving odd bits and bobs out of view of the camera. I think every project gets a little crazy in the last 48hrs, let alone when you’re a restaurant approaching opening night.

I haven’t been to The Manor since it was opened but I imagine you enter through the cocktail bar, where you’re met by tall tables with clean designed bar stools. The cocktail bar stretches to the back of the restaurant, giving you plenty of opportunity for tempting your tastebuds to a tasty treat before your meal. The table tops are all old school desks, complete with the etchings, doodles and love messages of daydreaming children. Little did they know, happy diners would be sitting down to eat accompanied by their random scratchings.

The textures and tactile surfaces continue throughout The Manor, beautiful gnarly walls, a stags head created from a string, wall painting, all add to the cool feel, it’s really a brilliant photographic subject if it wasn’t a restaurant it’d make a cool photo studio.

The Dishes

Shooting plated food in the kind of restaurant where presentation is fundamental to the dish is a fast-paced affair. I personally don’t want the kitchen to work around me, I’m there to provide a service with the absolute least impact on the operation. Know what kind of shots you need to get before you start, find the locations with regard to light, backgrounds, ease of access. If like me, shooting available light means you need to bring your own light, then you’ll want to have room for your lighting kit too, without folks tripping over it.

 The Dessert Bar

I’ll just say it, I think most peoples favourite will be the dessert bar. The chef steering this ship of delights is Kira Ghidoni, previously found at Fera at Claridges and Murano, so she has some serious experience under her apron. Kira is a picture of someone in heaven when you see her working in the kitchen. She looks so at home and it’s obvious The Manor team is a perfect fit for her.

The jars of goodies lined up along the dessert bar and liquid nitrogen on tap I can’t help but feel a bit of Roald Dahl’s Chocolate Factory about it. That’s not to say Kira is anything like Willy Wonka. I’ve always loved to watch someone who lives for their work and has crafted it into an art. Chefs, at this level, are like that. Moving quickly yet effortlessly and as if by magic, a plate or bowl appears and it makes you smile from the inside out.

The hardest part of the gig is trying to shoot all the dishes as they arrive, making sure you get them fresh and crisp from the kitchen, and then eat them, all before the next inspired plate arrives. I do have a particular soft spot for desserts, and Kira certainly blew me away with her creations.

Every dish I sampled took me to a whole new level of taste and texture. For a guy, like me, who back in 2002 hadn’t knowingly even put garlic in his food, because he didn’t like it, this kind of dining is a whole new world. My first UK experience like this was at Tom Kerridge’s, The Hand and Flowers, that was just before my wife started working for Tom. Prior to that my most fancy dining was at John Bishop’s, Bishops in Vancouver, Canada, where I used to live.

Anyway, let’s get back to The Manor.

 

The Team

Once the dishes were shot it was time for The Manor team to become immortalised in digital pixels.

Robin had really liked the group shot we did at The Dairy and wanted the same kind of feel for The Manor. I took a casual, almost band shoot approach, and everyone hammed it up pretty good, and that’s all part of the fun feel of Robins restaurants. Here are Head Chef Dean Parker and Dan Joines getting into the part.

Taking full advantage of the feel of the restaurant, textures and the guys, we came away with some pretty cool images I think you’ll agree. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to a trip back to The Manor in the near future, where you’ll find me at the dessert bar.

Publicity

Robin and his team’s ventures have been getting plenty of interest of late. I’ve recently been contacted by several publications, requesting image licensing, including Olive Magazine and Observer Food Monthly. It’s very satisfying to see my work published and for it to be celebrating someone’s dream of owning a successful and well-loved restaurant, makes it that bit sweeter.

You need to go

Although I’ve never actually visited The Manor as a paying punter, I’ve read the reviews, I’ve eaten their food, I’ve met the team. I can safely say, hand on heart, you’ll have one of your best ever foodie experiences, with the guys and girls at The Manor, maybe the best ever.

Next…

As I said, I was down for the weekend… Two shoots down, one to go… I’m off to Knightsbridge to shoot entrepreneurial headshots with some inspiring game changers.

Stay tuned…

 

🙂