MidEast restaurants slip into European 'cafe life'

There are certain ‘me moments’ in life I crave for occasionally and I love for these to be short and sweet: New York as autumn falls, walking in Central Park on a Sunday after visiting an antiques market and having had a great lunch in a bustling mom ‘n pappa-style restaurant.

I have to have summer Thursday nights out in London – the best of the week. Everyone out, slowly shedding the hassles of the week gone and getting buzzed for the weekend ahead.

As winter draws in, I love the ski-ing thing: log cabins and fireside stuff. Cosy and wrapped up tucked into some hill-side, hearing the wind and snow howling – tell me who wouldn’t?

Then there is my legendary European weekends! Since I can remember I have loved the whole café society thing. Sat outside in a town square, reading the paper with little but a strong, frothy coffee and a pastry for company, watching the world and his wife doing their do, going about business and waking up to the potential of the weekend.

Now Europe has been doing this for a long, long time. It has been selling that Euro moment to a lot of people for decades. It is and forever will be one of the ‘things’ you do. Nothing to do but be you. Beautiful!

In design terms, the whole Euro thing is having a bit of a renaissance too. I am seeing – in fact we are designing many more outlets and concepts that are drawing on the classic European café/brasserie – both in terms of design style and operational personality.

Food too seems to be undergoing a revamp with a sensible turn-away from the endless large portion and supersized options and looking to serve proper food, well cooked by real chefs.

Sure we will always have the ‘fries on the side’ quick casual layer but this is heading south in terms of demographic.

The mid-market is enjoying a reward for ‘premium-isation’ – if indeed there is such a word. By that I mean serving coffee in a regular sized cup; enjoying a sensible sized plate of food full of simple but quality ingredients that are all of a standard – not just pile it high.

Similarly, the design of these European cafés, trattorias and tavernas has loaned its design style too. Smaller, more intimate spaces that people can ‘snuggle’ in and have as their own. Low lighting levels that create that simmering, romantic mood. Even the large, heavily populated terraces are inspiring a more ornate mood among the designers right now.

Take a look at Brasileira in Lisbon, Café de Flore in Paris, Café Gijon in Madrid. All of these have been honed and crafted over 100 years. They are set in a style – a European way of doing café life and are in many ways, an inspiration, proving that if you do what you do well and consistently, you will trade well and for as long as you desire. Another espresso anyone?

Aidan Keane is the larger-than-life founder and creative director of Keane Brands, one of the world’s specialist design houses based in London, Dubai and Kuala Lumpar. Detail: www.keanebrands.com