Electric Birdcage - London |
Tuesday, 15 January 2008 |
Opened in late fall 2007, Electric Birdcage at Haymarket in the
heart of London’s West End, has been receiving mixed reviews. One thing
is certain, though, it IS getting a reaction from everyone who visits.
Electric Birdcage is a magnificently weird combination of Alice in
Wonderland and Russian Aristocrat, dim sum parlor and late-night
cocktail bar, sophisticated party venue and silly funhouse.
The owners, brothers Richard and Anthony Traviss, knew where to go for
eccentric and totally extravagant interiors: to London’s beloved venue
designer Shaun Clarkson. His handiwork can be seen, for example, at La
Pigalle, Covent Garden's Denim, Play Room, Profile, Power's Acoustic
Room, The Bloomsbury Ballroom, Atlantic Bar & Grill and Jerusalem.
Electric Birdcage’s surrealistic interior includes a Fibonacci-style
patterned floor, tables made of tree roots, gigantic pink hands for
chairs, lavish Vegas-style mirrors, imposing black stallions, two
snarling black polymer panthers, a carousel bar and iron birdcage
chandeliers dangling from a pink ceiling. Even the DJ operates from a
birdcage.
Capacity crowd of 300, served by cute staff in retro airline get-up,
can order Pan-Asian fare by head chef Somporn Khamsaenphan all day, and
stay until 4 am enjoying cocktails by mixologist Chad Shields. You and
seven friends can share the signature Electric Birdcage bowl filled
with a mix of champagne, Absolut Raspberri peach schnapps, Cointreau,
Absolut Citron, strawberry puree, gomme syrup, orange juice, fresh
raspberries and blueberries. That should elicit a reaction, if nothing
else will. By Tuija Seipell
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