Ka Pao
26 Vinicombe Street, Glasgow G12 8BE KA PAO
Vinicombe Street even has a song named after it – it’s that close to the collective heart of Glaswegians. Chef-patron Jonathan MacDonald is now the custodian of the beloved A-listed Botanics building on the lower half of this equally beloved little street off Byres Road. Formerly a car mechanic’s garage,
(the oldest surviving motor garage in Glasgow, says Wikipedia), this deceptively beefy basement space (it’s blessed with a super-slim,
slinky entrance) has been reborn a 120-capacity South East Asian restaurant. Daniel Spurr oversees the operation of the sizeable open kitchens at both Ka Pao and sister venue Ox and Finch on Sauchiehall Street alongside front of house manager, Andy MacSween.
RH Morton outfitted the kitchen and recalling the project, Sales Director Mark Rodden, said, “In the same way that you would perhaps go to different manufacturers for a turntable and an amplifier to get the best available, the cooking suite at Ka Pao consisted of twelve different manufacturers, all of whom offer different specialities, which presented a real challenge in endeavouring to blend them into one coherent unit. As bespoke manufacturers, we were able to do this as far as possible, which becomes more important with such a visible, open-plan theatre-style kitchen.”
He continued, “The enthusiasm and willingness from the Ox & Finch team is quite infectious and was adopted by all the design team, who were a pleasure to work with.”
Now for our design verdict. I visited early one morning and it was still a hive of activity because everything is freshly prepared onsite in the big open kitchen so all the chefs were hard at it, with Wellocks being the main food supplier, and the man who oversees the kitchen operation, Daniel, was the one who kindly showed me around.
The first thing I clocked was that the ‘Ka Pao’ signs and the ‘Toilet’ signs are all at a slant, which Daniel told me was representative of the descent down the stairs to the subterranean space. Once inside, through the big glass door, there’s an unusually shaped wooden reception desk complete with metal leg, that at a glance looks like the bottom of a grand piano.
The whole expanse of the restaurant is visible from the doorway and it is impressive what Jonathan et al have achived. The bar and open kitchen are all along the right-hand-side wall, with windows on the left and various seating configurations – horseshoe-shaped booths, long and short wooden tables – in between. A divider made up from shelving and corrugated orangey metal with lots of plants spilling and springing out all over the place breaks up any monotony there might’ve been in the design of such a large space.
Other highlights include the globe lighting. These are also a favourite of Daniel’s. He explianed, “The designer made them smoky inside so that they look almost moon-like as you draw closer.” The other result of this is this is that they cast a warm glow over the space which, with low ceilings and visible extraction pipes and a concrete floor, might have been austere and industrial otherwise.
Other standout features are the sumptuous leather seating in yellows, browns and rusts, and more of that corrugated metalwork, and the odd flash of blue leather upholstered seating.
I was also drawn to the white tiled back bar and various other parts of the place. The bar tops and tables are highly unusual, looking like a kind of green and black cowhide. The front of the bar looks like red blood vessels.
Ka Pao is also well stocked with greenery – both at the foot of the entrance stairs and on that divider that creates a space of its own three-quarters the way in, beyond the open kitchens.
The final mention must go to the toilets because of all the comments they’re attracting from customers, according to Daniel, and they’re all beaming and positive. Their design is a mixture of exposed brick, green tiles, more plants, and wooden cubicles. They reminded me of toilets I’d seen in a bar in Barcelona.
All in all here we have a design that is tastefully sympathetic to this beautiful building and it looks like all the hours and elbow grease the three guys are putting in on top of this design canvass will ensure Ka Pao packs a punch in the competitive west end market.
Jason Caddy
