Perth Dining Venues that Got It Right….in more ways than one

Any Perthian who has lived this side of the Indian Ocean in the past few years can attest to the growing number of cafés, restaurants and eateries that have popped up around the place. These new venues are often home-grown start-ups that ooze with hipster vibes and will generally impress you with the smells, tastes and visual pleasures they have on offer.

In the time we’ve spent living in this vast and isolated sand pit oasis, the team at Perth Garden Lights (PGL) has been known to pay a visit or two to the hottest venues around Perth, looking not just for a sample of the menu, but looking more critically at the full dining experience to find what’s working best for those who’ve got it spot on.

There’s a high volume of culturally diverse eateries out there, with mouth-watering bites that could seriously rival some of the best in the country.

As expected, there’s fierce competition developing between these new businesses – precisely because there are so many around, and it’s difficult for business owners to stand out when each new venue consistently raises the bar on the diners’ experience. Add to that a downturn in Western Australia’s economy, and the conditions don’t stack up in favour of the business owners behind Perth’s hot new establishments. Many of these owners are new to food and catering and much more many are also new to business.

So how do eatery keep ahead of the competition and a hungry demand?

Beyond the obvious improvements well known to those in the business, (think menu and service), venue owners are getting increasingly creative about their interior design and ever more attuned to the experience of their diners, from the moment they set food inside right through to when the cheque arrives. PGL’s co-founder, Ali Saljoughian, has been talking with his mouth full to as many entrepreneurs as will tolerate it, and as it turns out, staying ahead doesn’t have to involve mad cash or death by debt.

Here are the 3 hottest tips that are keeping diners interested and reservations flowing.

Temperature Control

Though the city is best known for its endless sunshine and cloudless blue skies – most of the year – there’s no denying that the average Perth metropolitan doesn’t do winter well. And the hibernating masses are not the only ones who need a lesson in. Restaurants and cafés need to work harder at luring people away from their home comforts by turning up the heat – literally. As simple as it seems, maintaining a comfortable temperature in all seating zones is a level of detail that is escaping the attention of a surprising number of restaurateurs and Tapas bars.

Space Planning

We often wonder how small cafés manage to get a hoard of customers while large spacious restaurants find most of their tables empty. With so much more riding on patronage, the savvy restaurateurs out there are those that have carefully planned out their available real estate to create space that supports and promotes a social atmosphere. The sight of a full, small café space automatically triggers a social atmosphere. But the open dining halls of fully loaded restaurants can appear soul-less and lonely unless strategically planned for. Organic seating arrangement that encourage social behaviour require the use of a mixture of arm-chairs, tall tables and communal dining benches. The idea is to bring people together, be it over coffee, a meal or glass of red.

Setting The Right Lighting Mood

Creating the right ambience for an eatery is key to enhance any dining experience and make the space more visually appealing.  Whether it’s a romantic evening out, or friend’s night out, lighting plays an important role in setting the mood dining experience.  The “entrance” of café/restaurant is first focus area, as it sets the mood the rest of our space and with the right ambience draws new customers in. Maximise on your outdoor space by bringing to life by using LED landscape lighting. Depending on the outdoor space several different outdoor lighting fittings can be used to create an oasis from the outdoor space, this includes; spot lights, spike lights, in-ground lights and path lights fittings.

When it comes to the unique landscape lighting ideas, Perth Garden Lights has helped small businesses transform their space to a welcoming social atmosphere that offered tangible results. A professional service that offers designs, supply, installation, and maintenance that get the job done on time and within a budget.