Designed to shine

Designed to shine

Belfast restaurateur and international designer, Kris Turnbull says that he was delighted when his fledgling restaurant on the Lisburn Road claimed its second LCN title during this year’s awards.

Less than three years since its inception, Kris Turnbull’s uber-stylish Belfast eatery, Saphyre, has collected the Licensed & Catering News Restaurant of the Year title for 2016.

Opened in November, 2013, Saphyre has not changed dramatically since then. It is unique in Belfast in that it is located inside a listed, former church building. Kris, an internationally renowned designer, has sympathetically and painstakingly refurbished the interior of the location to house not only the restaurant but also his extensive studio headquarters and a boutique store that offers luxury gifts and exclusive brands from around the world.

In fact, Saphyre is perhaps, more in keeping with the original church building at the front than were the derelict buildings that had to be demolished to make way for its development.

“When I saw this building sitting derelict, I immediately thought this would be an amazing place for people to work together and interact with each other,” he told LCN recently.

Saphyre defeated strong competition to take the 2016 title, sharing the stage at the gala awards evening in the Europa recently with the Old Schoolhouse, Comber and The Muddlers’ Club in Belfast, among others.

1
Designer Kris Turnbull – owner and originator of Saphyre – with his Restaurant of the Year certificate.

LCN’s judging panel said of Saphyre: “Not only was the restaurant beautifully presented but everything about the establishment from the staff, service, ambience and food could really not have been bettered. It was certainly the best culinary experience that we have had in a long while.”

Designed by Kris, the colour palette used inside the 52-seater restaurant was drawn from The Wing of the Blue Roller, a painting by German artist, Albrecht Durer.

Kris said:

“I’m working on design projects in Paris, London, Spain and in cities all over the world and the question always was, in our new restaurant, how do we reflect the colours, the fabrics, the ambience of all these wonderful places where we’re dining around the world? How do we bring that back to Belfast?

“What we wanted was something reflective of the Left Bank in Paris, that striking international ambience, something that felt like sitting in your own dining room at home rather than in a commercial restaurant. That boutique concept was always what we wanted, we wanted it to be different from other environments that might seem too commercial or two ‘kitchen-y’,” he added.

Personally designed by Kris, Saphyre is styled with signature Hermes fabrics, glamorous Rubelli silks and a range of his own bespoke furniture.

“When I do a design project, it’s about doing it right and doing it well,” added Kris. “I’m not willing to compromise on things like quality or service or tableware because I always want everything to be excellent.

“You won’t find anything like this anywhere else in Belfast. In terms of concept, we wanted to create a very welcoming, approachable place where people could come and enjoy lunch or high tea during the day and then, in the evening, it’s very much about fine dining with an international flavour.”

Kris sees Saphyre as somewhere that diners like to visit with the intention of staying on for the evening, rather than grabbing a bite before moving on to another venue.

4

June’s Gala Awards evening wasn’t Kris’s first trip to the podium on behalf of Saphyre – the restaurant won the Newcomer of the Year title in 2014.

“Awards like this are massively important,” he commented. “This isn’t a big commercial environment sitting on a street front, so it’s about growing the business of Saphyre in a discrete way and building the clientele, and awards like this all build on the story of what we are trying to do.

“To get this recognition from an independent awards event, that’s really important. There are other awards, but when it is independent, that means it’s real people saying that they loved us and we just want everyone to know that.”

As for future priorities, Kris said that it wasn’t simply about expanding the offering at Saphyre:

“It’s about consolidating and perfecting and improving,” he explained. “It’s about saying how do we make this better and how do we give the client a better experience. It’s the whole concept. The company is a great size. It’s still bespoke, it’s still boutique and the next challenge for us is making sure that we become better at what we do.”

 

6