Tote by the Turf, located at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, bagged the award for Best Restaurant Design at the prestigious Wallpaper Design Awards

Tote, a designer restaurant at Mahalaxmi, won the prestigious award for Best Restaurant Design at the Wallpaper Design awards yesterday.



"We are excited; it's a huge honour. After all, Wallpaper is such a respected and prestigious design magazine.
u00a0
We knew about our nomination in the Best Restaurant Design Category, and that we were pitted against some serious competition from Sydney, London and Paris," says an expectedly thrilled Malini Akerkar, on her restaurant making a splash on the global design platform.

"In fact, Tote's architects, Kapil Gupta and Chris Lee and myself didn't even think about these nominations after they were announced in January's edition of Wallpaper," she adds about this news that was broken to her at 5.30 pm.

"When I first saw their (Kapil and Chris) designs for Tote, I knew it would make history; it was truly special," she says of her award-winning duo. Pinning down Kapil Gupta about his win wasn't the easiest, and rightly so - "I always knew this project would make a mark, globally.
u00a0
The uniqueness of Tote, the inspiration behind its design and being able to pull it off, bearing in mind the architecture and the space, was what clinched it," reasons Kapil.

He goes on to add that the philosophy behind Tote's design was what set it apart - "Tote is the conversion of old colonial buildings into a banquet, a restaurant and a lounge bar.

However, more than this incorporation, what was unique were the open spaces that were covered by over 100-year-old rain trees. The amazing canopy created by these trees borrowed itself to the structure."

Malini and Rahul Akerkar had complete faith in the duo. "Rahul and I always go with the architect's word. It was a delight to work with Kapil and Chris. We were thinking 'Great Gatysbish' in our heads for Tote's look and vibe.
u00a0
By the end of the their first presentation, there was no question of any input from our end," she recalls. While the Akerkars won the project about 6-7 years back, work began in late 2007 and wrapped up by 2009.

"This award validates the benchmark we set for all our properties, in terms of good design," she maintains.
u00a0
Tote had already won the Best Bar of the Year at the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards in the UK, where they beat the likes of 600 other bars. The duo had also bagged the Young Architect of the Year Awards, 2010 in London.

"I think it's fantastic for Kapil and Chris and Indian architects since this award brings to the forefront the fact that even India is capable of creating contemporary, award-winning design and architecture," she signs off.