Le Bistrot Pierre

Transom door closers from Alpro Architectural Hardware have been installed at Le Bistrot Pierre on Caroline Street in Cardiff. The venue, which is in the heart of the city and near the Millennium Stadium, is the eleventh to open in a family of individually-themed restaurants serving award-winning provincial French food.

The Alpro closers are used on doors manufactured by Essex-based IDF Aluminium Ltd who excel in distinctive facades for the retail and leisure industry and are also active in education and corporate buildings.

Alpro’s overhead transom closers are a means of hydraulically controlling the opening and closing of aluminium doors. Features include dual closing speed to allow flexibility in closing, three levels of spring strength and 90-degree hold open facility. Builders and glaziers benefit from the ability to adjust the latching and closing force according to the weight and height of individual doors as well as type of usage. Fine-tuning to accommodate the exact needs of patrons is all-important in restaurant usage of this type.

Transom closers are contained within the transom header bar of a door. They are therefore well suited to use in premises where aesthetics are paramount and visual appearance must not be compromised. Le Bistrot Pierre is also using door handles from Alpro’s Impressionist range which are manufactured from 304-grade stainless steel and are specified widely for their functionality and visual appeal.

The menu at Le Bistrot Pierre reflects travel throughout France by an executive chef and his team in search of the authentic healthy produce that distinguishes the menu here. There is a choice of more than 30 French wines, many being sourced directly from the producers. Each of the restaurants is styled individually to complement its surroundings and the frontage here has been designed to blend with an area of Cardiff that was previously a hub of the brewing trade.

Keith Parry, Sales Director at Alpro, said: “Our transom closers are designed for durability and have been tested independently at 250,000 double-action cycles. We’re pleased to have contributed to the visual appeal of this prestigious restaurant while also optimising access control for management and ease of entry for clients.”

IDF Aluminium Ltd worked in conjunction on the project with specialist joinery manufacturers Charles Evans Shopfitters, a nationwide concern with headquarters in Liverpool and a 120-year history of serving the construction industry.

Head chef at Le Bistrot Pierre in Cardiff, Ben Morse, has worked with celebrity chef Matt Tebbutt and with Jamie Oliver at his flagship restaurant, Fifteen, in London.

Co-owner Robert Beacham said: “The care with which the frontage in Cardiff has been designed to complement the architecture of a signature part of the city shows how all our bistrots retain an individual style but with a uniform insistence on the highest standards of cuisine running through the sites.”