Launching Laya’Lina
On Thursday I spent the day with the lovely guys at Laya’lina restaurant in Beauchamp Place in Knightsbridge.
They had given me a full agenda that ended up with me shooting contiuously from 11 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. Architectural, Design, Food and Social Event Photography all rolled into one day.
One of the lovely belly dancers whose grace added to a wonderful evening
I arrived in Beauchamp Place with a sense of nostalgia. It is twenty six years since the Australian, Shaheen’s and Hans Crescent. Borsch ‘n Tears is still there. But Laya’Lina is a new and fitting addition to one of the cutest streets in London. New furnishings in muted browns and silver with chic lighting and wonderful food. I was lucky enough to be able to park across the road and immediately began to shoot the architecture and design before set-up began for the evening opening.
The Downstairs Restaurant
As we moved through the space we worked with the mix of natural and existing light to bring out the attention to detail that is throughout the restaurant.
Cool Blues and Steel
We then moved outside to shoot across the road. The wide frontage is a very generous space for taking the sun with coffee.
A real statement in Beachamp Place
We ended up with the bar – appropriate – which was to prove deceptively spacious later in the evening.
Mood and Style
I then spent a few hours shooting the food – which became very very tempting! lets just whizz through a few dishes…
Lamb just melting off the bone
Asparagus wrapped in Parma with a Hollandaise
The strawberry jumped in of its own accord - your honour!
The evening opening was great success with more than three hundred people attending through the evening. The entertainment was provided by a succession of belly dancers and entertainers but there can be no doubt that the star of the evening was the Lisa Kwei Band. It must have been about 11.30 p.m. and they were about to start their last set, when I heard one desperate guest, torn between choices, tell Fadi Saliba that he had to go and get the last train but if Lisa was about to sing again he would have to miss the train.
The Lisa Kwei Band perform a short set upstairs at the beginning of the evening. They went on to perform Two full sets in the restaurant downstairs. They will be performing twice a week at Laya'Lina
It was along day and hard hard work but very rewarding. My thanks to all the staff at Laya’Lina for their support and kindness and the Owners for their goodwill and generosity.
The Best Food, The Best Entertainment, The Nicest People
Has Jong Ho seen these? Maybe we should all have a night out on the town.
A lot of hard work obviously went into all this Ross/Shireen! Really impressive!
We wish you every success, and will promote you when/where-ever we can.
Much love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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