Outline
Paying loving homage to the Irani cafés that were once part of the fabric of life in Bombay, Dishoom serves a lovingly curated menu of Bombay comfort food and award-winning drinks in beautiful restaurants with unique stories. Each café bustles with life, lights glow golden, music and incense hang in the air, mixing with the fragrance of freshly brewed chai and sounds of contented chatter.
CGA Integration began working with Dishoom in 2015 when they designed and installed the audio for their third restaurant, Dishoom King’s Cross, a unique and atmospheric venue located within a restored Victorian industrial building; a former railway transit shed, built in 1850. Since then, further Dishoom sites have opened across London, (Canary Wharf, Carnaby, Kensington & Battersea) and beyond, (Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham) and their original site in Covent Garden, which began the Dishoom story in 2010, received a major 10th anniversary redesign in 2020. All now feature a CGA Integration designed and installed audio system, including Shoreditch and their new Permit Room all-day bar-cafe format which debuted in Brighton.
Challenges
CGA Integration understands that every Dishoom is unique, yet each has to maintain the same audio footprint. This ensures that every Dishoom restaurant delivers the same high-quality sound experience across the growing estate. Some Dishoom sites have the provision for live music and DJs, some are listed buildings with listed decorative finishes. All are acoustically very different. CGA Integration has designed and installed audio systems to work with these very different interiors to create the same rich Dishoom sound wherever you are dining. When needed, in areas of listed ceilings or design sensitivity, CGA Integration has ensured speakers have been delivered in a specified RAL colour to blend with the interior design for minimal visual impact whilst still delivering maximum audio experience.
In addition, the sound system in every Dishoom needs to deliver flexibility. With many different uses depending on the occasion or time of day, areas may need to operate as a whole or individually. CGA Integration has designed and installed multi zoned sound systems in each venue, generating a flexible yet seamless audio experience throughout. Each audio system needs to be easily operated by the staff and be mindful of any nearby residential areas.
Technical
In each Dishoom venue, ease of staff control of the sound systems was delivered through wall mounted controls all wired back to a central AV & IT rack. These included staff operated volume controls as well as volume presets within the sound processor. CGA Integration ensured that these were the same in every Dishoom site and were programmed using the same configuration, thus generating familiarity to any staff moving between Dishoom restaurants. The wall control system was initially standardised by CGA Integration (in King’s Cross, Carnaby, Kensington, and Manchester), but more recently, (in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Canary Wharf, Covent Garden & Battersea), a new system has been introduced with touch screen control and a time clock which automates the trading profile of the system enabling staff to concentrate on their guest’s needs. Every system installed also has the added reassurance of remote network support from CGA Integration.
Response
Shamil Thakrar, Head Babu at Dishoom; “It’s really important for us to create beautiful restaurants with unique stories for our customers. Sound is a critical part of ensuring that our customers are fully immersed in the Dishoom experience; complementing the deep love we have for Bombay’s culture, heritage and food. CGA Integration have designed and installed audio systems which help to create this, blending with the interior design whilst fulfilling the requirements of a listed site and generating a fantastic sound for the customers to enjoy. We have been delighted with the audio systems they have designed and installed.”
Lenny Dennis, Project Manager at Dishoom; “As well as understanding Dishoom, CGA also has a wealth of experience in working with both Grade I & Grade II listed buildings, which has ensured the delivery of the best quality audio experience.”
Brian Trollip, Director of Operations and Business Development at Dishoom; “CGA Integration have installed sound systems which deliver both excellent quality sound and ease of operation, through ensuring consistency across multiple Dishoom venues. This means that staff are familiar with the systems operation irrespective of which Dishoom they are working in”.
Chris Gunton Managing Director of CGA; “Building long term relationships with our clients is at the heart of the CGA business. It gives us the opportunity to truly understand what each customer needs, which ensures that we offer them the best fit latest developments that this fast-moving industry has to offer”.