Feast for the eyes atop 103
Restaurant with stunning views set to open in Colmore tower Kirsty Bosley enjoys the panoramic views from what are set to become the city’s most impressive dinner tables
SHOOTING up 24 floors in the lift that takes you to the top of Birmingham’s tallest office block I wasn’t prepared for what was about to hit me as the doors opened.
Orelle, the French restaurant situated at the very top of 103 Colmore Row (at more than 100m tall, it technically qualifies as the city’s tallest office block) will take its first diners on Friday, October 14.
As soon as I stepped out of the lift, I was stunned.
Giant ceiling-to-floor windows in the double storey restaurant revealed a Birmingham that I had never seen before.
The plush, scallop sofas and chairs in the newly-designed dining room made the crisp autumn sky somehow more blue. Every single seat in the house offered a special vantage point of the city and beyond.
I wandered between tables filled with staff who were training, dishing up empty plates of imaginary French fare to their colleagues.
From one side, I looked over the Jewellery Quarter, onward to The Hawthorns and the Black Country.
The window offering views of the south of the city was distinctly more green, the beautiful leafy suburbs emerald on the horizon.
Pigeon Park around St Philip’s Cathedral looks very small from here, like a perfect miniature toy village. This corner of the restaurant is sure to be a favourite, and much sought after.
On the horizon, I watched as tiny trains snaked in and out of New Street station.
When it’s open, Orelle will serve food from 12pm until 1am, a modern French menu created by Chris Emery, an executive chef with experience working at
Michelin-starred restaurants Pollen Street Social in London and The Clocktower in New York.
As well as food, there’s a list of more then 20 cocktails created by Tiago Bastos, formerly of The Grand Hotel and The Edgbaston, and a curated wine collection.
103 Colmore Row stands where the NatWest Tower once stood and the original cast aluminium banking hall doors have been retained, with golden touches everywhere, rich, marble floors and a hand-painted mural by Anita Roye on the wall.
As well as the skyscraper restaurant, Orelle has a cafe on the ground floor with an outdoor terrace.