London’s Blue Mountain School is an emporium not an educational institution. But it’s a place of learning nonetheless: The six-story brick hub in Shoreditch showcases a concise, highbrow mix of fashion, art, and craft. It also has a restaurant tucked into the second floor: the Michelin-starred Mãos just reopened as Cycene, remodeled dining room and enlarged kitchen included.
BMS is the brainchild of creative couple Christie and James Brown, and we have been taking design inspiration from their work every step of the way. (To track the surefooted evolution of their restaurant, see Blue Mountain School: London’s Creative Club of the Moment, The Rarefied Restaurant at Blue Mountain School, and Steal This Look.)
The Cycene experience takes place over three hours in a succession of rooms, all filled with ideas worth applying at home. It starts in the newly built bar on the ground floor; continues in the kitchen, where guests get to see the night’s tasting menu in progress; and moves on to the dining rooms, one paneled and intimate, the other a BDDW-tiled art installation with a chef’s table for private parties. Come take a tour.
Photography as noted, courtesy of Blue Mountain School.
The Bar