Naturally, I am as pleased as punch when they say that I’m one of the very few people who were able to guess it.
It’s a picture of monks’ robes. Or at least a section of a photograph of six monks standing side by side taken by photographer Denise Weldon when she was living in Thailand.
People’s Palace architect and interior designer J. Antonio Mendoza chose this picture because he wanted something abstract, very Thai but also very subtle to go with the cuisine.
Anton says of the artwork, "Denise Weldon’s photo is complete, meaning it shows the monks from head to toe. My first idea was to get the lower part of the photo but once you blow it up…you don’t really want to see large feet while you’re eating, so I decided on this section instead. At least it has a hint of Thailand."
While the food is deliciously Thai, the design is very global – just touches of Thailand here and there, and the only obvious Asian element is not even from Thailand, but from Burma: an offering vessel that monks bring to the temple.
In fact, the word to describe the entire look of People’s Palace is "subtle," and to some observers, even understated with its stripped-down walls and furnishings. It almost makes a pointed contrast to Thai food, which is anything but subtle.
Anton explains this is the trend in restaurant design around the world. "This kind of design is what you’ll see in Las Vegas, New York, Paris and even in Hong Kong," he says. "It’s modern, very clean lines, good lighting and music. The people that eat here are well traveled, so this design is nothing new to them."
Anton chose Italian-made polypropylene chairs sourced from Dexterton in keeping with the casual atmosphere, while the tables are the only holdovers from the old People’s Palace restaurant in Malate. Everything else from the old restaurant was sold.
A little side story here: several years ago, I ate at People’s Palace and fell in love with their square, light-green plates (and the food, of course!). If memory serves me right, they were Goebel from Europe. All over Metro Manila and at home stores abroad like Williams Sonoma I would look for those plates until somebody told me to check out Cardinal Ceramics in Makati. I did and indeed they had produced the same plates but stopped because the company wasn’t ordering anymore. For a year, I would go back to Cardinal Ceramics every two months just to ask if Goebel had resumed their orders.
So, when Anton tells me that he didn’t like those plates and had asked the restaurant owners to change them, I nearly fell off my buttermilk-colored chair. "For plates, I really don’t like green, even though they were very light green. The owner really wanted green for the restaurant but I just insisted on neutrals – this was one of the minor debates. I don’t use a lot of that color; it isn’t an ugly color, I’m just more into neutrals – beige, brown, white and black – because I work better with them. Another reason I didn’t want green even if it was the owner’s favorite color is that his other restaurant, Sala in Malate, is already green; People’s Palace was green and then the new restaurant would be green again?"
And here’s something a lot of women will be interested to know. According to Anton, "people just don’t look that beautiful surrounded by green. For me, it’s very hard to light up that color." In that case, we’ll settle for a color that makes us look and feel beautiful.
With this part of Greenbelt 3 now in full swing, Anton says of the importance of design in food outlets, "If you have a beautiful restaurant but the food is not good, it’s not going to do well. If you have good food and no ambience, people will still try the place but it won’t be their favorite. It would be like walking into a panciteria that’s not exactly for hanging out."
Owned by Colin MacKay and his partners, People’s Palace is only the second restaurant Anton has designed – the first being Minggoy’s at the Fort – and for him it was a creative collaboration that was both challenging and a joy to do.
"They wanted the restaurant to be modern, very simple and cafeteria-style. Absolutely informal and certainly not fine dining. They wanted a restaurant where you can come in jeans and shorts, where you don’t have to plan to eat there, and you don’t have to dress up. As you can see, the uniforms of the waiters are just orange T-shirts and denims, setting the tone for the casual ambience."
Be that as it may, diners at People’s Palace, especially on weekends, include a who’s who in society and business. It’s inescapable that a lot of people think it’s fine dining because it has a very chic atmosphere.
Apart from the design, of course, there’s the food. I’d always liked People’s Palace at their former Malate branch, though I wasn’t a very frequent diner. But at those times that I was there, I always enjoyed the food. At their Greenbelt resto, you shouldn’t miss the prawn, pomelo and coconut salad – crisp as summer and just as delightful; crispy catfish with green mango salad; son-in-law’s eggs with sweet fish sauce (I wonder what’s behind this name); chicken in pandan leaves; chicken with basil or bamboo shoots; and, of course, the one thing I always have in a Thai restaurant – pad Thai.
For outdoor dining, Anton created a cozy space in front of People’s Palace. Instead of simply putting patio chairs and tables, he designed lounge sofas that are as comfy as they are pretty. At night, the whole beige and brown space is lit up by candles, making for a pleasant wait while you have drinks and appetizers in case the restaurant is full.
"Design is forever changing, whether it’s architecture or fashion," Anton reflects. "I do modern design but I make sure it’s not trendy because when it is, it dates the space immediately," says Anton. "I’ve always believed that in order to become a good modernist, you have to have a full grasp of the classic orders. You have to start from the Greek and from there everything develops. You go all the way from the Romanesque period to Gothic, Renaissance, the Bauhaus movement, the turn of the century, Zen and contemporary. You have to be well versed in the classic; if not, it’s like being a person without your formative years. That’s why I think architects make good interior designers – we have a good grasp of that so the design is more timeless."
Like its food, People Palace’s design is something that will get people talking.