Birmingham's new landmark, Spiceal Street, opened last week at
the UK's most visited shopping centre, Bullring.
The new-look dining destination welcomed three new restaurants;
the stylish Browns Bar and Brasserie, Thai banquet-style ChaoBaby
and locally-run handmade burger Co., which join the five existing
restaurants in the St Martin's Square area including Jamie's
Italian.
Also unveiled as part of the new scheme was a public art
commission, 'Timbre', created by Wolfgang Buttress using reclaimed
copper from the relocated Spiral Café, as well as a new
green wall feature and water installation, which contains poetry
co-written by two local artists.
The opening was marked with a spectacular performance between
human and machine, entitled 'Traction', which was created by
Leamington Spa based dance theatre company Motionhouse following a
partnership with Arts Council as part of the Arts Nation
initiative. Visitors watched on as three diggers and six dancers
united in a mesmerising dance routine. Dancing with extraordinary
grace, the machines carved the space, pivoted and wheeled their
human partners in a poetic display to celebrate the completion of
Spiceal Street.
As ChaoBaby and handmade burger Co. opened to the public for the
first time (Browns Bar and Brasserie officially opened Friday 25th
November) many of the other restaurants in the area offered
visitors an extra-special experience with many offering samples of
their food. Jamie's Italian also hosted a hog roast on their
terrace whilst Browns Bar and Brasserie held a champagne afternoon
tea party outside the restaurant.
Tim Walley, General Manager at Bullring, commented: "As a
shopping centre we've always excelled in our fashion offering and
felt that now was the time to match this with our catering
offer.
"We're pleased that we've been able to welcome two new
restaurants to the city as well as offering handmade burger Co. a
location for their flagship restaurant."
This weekend celebrations continued with a hog roast on Jamie's
Italian's terrace on Saturday whilst Capital FM provided music
throughout Saturday and Sunday.
The new dining quarter will open late into the evening allowing
visitors to dine after the centre's shops have closed at the city's
new dining and socialising hotspot.