Back in 2009 Tony Hornecker took dining at home to a whole
new experience. He is an immensely successful installation artist and set designer in London whose idiosyncratic work has gained him commissions from the likes of The Royal Opera House and The Royal College of Art and clients such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and very recently Hermes. Plus he had staged a couple of very extraordinary exhibits in his Hackney home and studio which featured abandoned sets and piles of bric a brac all lovingly arranged and displayed.
Then Hornecker decided to go one step further and convert his rather elaborately decorated terraced row house in the East End, which was once London’s working class district, into an installation of a cabaret and dining room. Every crook and cranny of the small mis-matched rooms that are filled with glorious oddities and junk were used for the occasion. Overnight this ramshackle pop up dining room was an roaring success as people thrilled to the fact that the outrageous surroundings were not designed specifically for the night, but were part of Hornecker’s home where he lived after dinner was over.
If that wasn’t enough distraction from the three course meal that is served, then the ‘hostess’ A Man To Pet a wonderfully bizarre alternative Drag queen did impromptu WTF shows between courses which certainly grabbed your attention and much more.
Not content with just thrilling diners in London, Hornecker then took The Pale Door pop-up on the road and took his concept to Santiago de Chile, where he created a ramshackle treehouse on the side of a hill. Then he designed a speakeasy-style restaurant in an abandoned mansion in the heart of Buenos Aires. Candlelit tables, crumbling cornice ceilings and a huge open-air courtyard resemble sets from the Mad Hatter’s tea party. After that it was Buenos Aires turn, before New York, Berlin and Tokyo and even the Glastonbury Festival.
Dining at The Pale Blue Door is about so much more than the food. This joyous quirky theatrical experience is the prefect example of quintessential English eccentricity at its very best, and will become one of those vastly entertaining moments in your life that will be hard to forget.
Now the very good news is that Hornecker is back home in London and The Pale Blue Door is open for a very limited run this December complete with A Man To Pet and a Christmas Panto to boot. For times, location and reservations etc http://tonyhornecker.com/work/the-pale-blue-door/london-2016.php : book now before it completely sells out.
