A phone call at seven in the morning, considering I went to bed at three, made my body jolt and my heart beat faster. 'Tatyana, I had a terrible dream, our sails were on fire! We need to do something about this!' - that's how my typical work morning started back then.
I was the ninth designer considered for the 850m2 restaurant project in the city center. A former nightclub was being transformed, and the new property owner decided to create a top-notch Caucasian cuisine restaurant in its place, a territory of hospitality and a special atmosphere of celebration and relaxation. I was recommended by acquaintances, and I eagerly went to the meeting. The initial impression of the location and the client, an extraordinary and grand person, was etched into my memory for life. A former military man with an officer's bearing, slightly over sixty, wanted to fulfill his long-standing dream and open a restaurant that no one had done before. His wife, I must admit, was an epitome of Georgian aristocracy with impeccable manners and strict kindness. The introduction went surprisingly smoothly and casually; we roamed the vast future restaurant area and shared our thoughts, feelings, and experiences. With a pleasant aftertaste from the meeting, I left to work on the sketches, given three days to do so. These three days and three nights were spent in sketches and searches. This was my first restaurant of such size and level. And after the time elapsed, I showed up for the meeting with drawings, prints, and prepared text to accompany them. Everyone had already gathered, around ten to twelve people, and I laid out all my gathered materials on a wide table. My heart was pounding like a drum. After what felt like an eternity, about three minutes, I heard a brief, 'You guessed it.' And from that moment, my life, albeit temporarily, stopped being the same. Very little textual support was needed for my sketches. This was one of those cases where the architect-designer and the client were on the same wavelength and in the same rhythm.

Working was extremely easy, albeit very challenging. Restaurant consultants, chefs and technologists, acousticians and engineers, artists, and even a sailmaker! Yes, the main visual element of the restaurant was meant to be the sails, along with all the attributes of top-class sail yachts, which were placed along the main visual axis. When a restaurant guest entered the main hall, they saw the VIP area sails in the perspective, bathed in sunlight from sunrise to sunset, thanks to special lighting we developed with lighting engineers. The entire main hall had no natural light source, so I suggested creating fresco murals of maritime landscapes on the walls and illuminating them in a special way to create the impression of wonderful Caucasus views. Part of the main hall area was divided into modules, each representing a beach tent, or rather its stylization, which was illuminated from the inside, and part was designated for freestanding small tables. A lighting calculation project was developed by lighting engineers to account for different lighting scenarios so that each module had its local lighting. The goal was to create an atmosphere as close as possible to the Caucasian coastline. This was reflected in the floor finishes, wall fragments, and even in the background music, where depending on the time of day, the sound of the waves and seagulls could be heard.
There was also a second, smaller hall, which I designed as a Caucasian winery with two or three large wooden barrels, pergolas entwined with grapevines, and beautiful sunlit stained glass windows made using Tiffany techniques. The barrels were not fake, but were brought from named wineries in Georgia, and guests were offered wine specifically from them. There was also another room for special guests, with a small fountain in the center to create the atmosphere of an old Georgian urban courtyard or a small square, as if the tables were set right on the street. A summer terrace was also attached, with panoramic glazing and small fountains along its main axis. Here, a mini-bakery extension was built, where 'shoti puri' was baked using old recipes.

Regarding the cuisine itself, that should be a separate article, clearly not written by me. I can only say that our client approached the realization of his dream project seriously and with the highest level of requirements and responsibility towards all its participants, primarily towards himself. This encouraged working beyond regular hours and even on weekends, not because it was required, but because I lived through this embodiment. It's when a car is sent for you early in the morning to take you to the construction site, because the client has only a few hours in the city and needs to discuss project details. When he takes the whole team to the restaurant for lunch with paternal care, because we all work a lot and are tired, and he knows it. When the creative itch doesn't allow for a long sleep, and when the 'sails are on fire' for the client at 7 in the morning, you rush in with enthusiasm and creative impulse.
Such projects, as well as such people, are encountered in life not often, I would even say you can live and not encounter them. This makes the experience gained from them all the more valuable and the understanding of what to strive for and work for all the clearer. When the project was completed and the restaurant awaited its opening, I was offered to work on the design of a multi-story office building on the territory adjacent to the restaurant. This would have provided me with a carefree life and work for many years. But a global crisis occurred, and this enterprise was not meant to be. However, a fantastic story based on real events appeared in my professional life, and life as a whole.