With the release of 10362 French Café marking the beginning of the Restaurants of the World collection, Blocks picks out five British eateries that could be included in the new LEGO Icons subtheme.
LEGO Icons 10362 French Café is the latest expansion of The LEGO Group’s range of ornamental dioramas. The first in a line of restaurants of the World, the bookshelf facade evokes the feel of a bistro en plein air, somewhere between postcard and Architecture sets, with intricate exterior detail, ingenious paving and archway builds, and just enough mise-en-scéne to bring it to life.
Whether it’s nostalgia for a former home or past holiday, a wish or promise for the future, or just something nice for the shelf, future sets will likely want to strike a similar tone, encapsulating the most emblematic dining experience for their country of origin. And while 10350 Tudor Corner Café has sold the idea of a repurposed British pub to fans of modular buildings, people on a more modest LEGO budget may see the Restaurants of the World series as a reasonable alternative.
To that end, here are five types of restaurant that would be worthy of representing Blighty’s buffet to the wider world;
Greggs
Let’s get this out of the way. We’re not including Greggs to laugh at it or its customers. Quite the opposite – when considering what kind of food best represents Britain to the wider world, one could do worse than lean into the traditional, the wholesome and the everyday. And Greggs is a fair example, combining fast food with standard bakery items. On its own terms or as a symbol of the Great British high street ‘caff’, a Greggs set might offer an uncomplicated design, but for working LEGO brickies and ex-pat LEGO builders, it could bring both simple charm and satisfying warmth. At the very least, a sausage roll element might come out of it.
The Chippy
Perhaps the most obvious answer to this question, but one that would raise a smile on every face, a fish n chip shop would offer a crowd-pleasing slice (wait, that’s pizza) of British culinary life. While a food truck or kiosk-style LEGO set might be too niche or unhealthy for City or Friends, the Restaurants of the World subtheme would be an appropriate place for such a build.
With fryers, fish, sausages and rotating kebab visible through sturdy, frost-printed windows, with terrible seafood puns on printed signs and a pigeon sitting outside vigilantly, a chippy build could tug on the heartstrings while playing to an international audience.
Indian Restaurants
Where 10362 French Café offers an outdoor aesthetic, restaurants serving South Asian food tend to save their style for their customers. While a takeaway is a treat, a sit-down meal is always special. A stereotypical experience includes low lights over sizzling dishes full of fragrant, colourful foods on well-appointed tables surrounded by decorated walls.
A LEGO set, therefore, might elect to build from the inside-out. While modern restaurants embrace a modern aesthetic, a LEGO brick balti house might hew to the traditional, with understated colours and shaped brickwork. A mouth-watering table setting might include curry- and rice-print tiles, bowl pieces with vibrant trans-red onion and dark orange chutney, recoloured crystals for chunky chips and a 2×2 round naan. You know, for the table.
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The Country Pub / Pub Garden
The LEGO Group’s aversion to public house builds is understandable. The LEGO hobby is primarily aimed at children and promoting alcohol, however indirectly, would be inappropriate. 10350 French Café’s timeless quality, the Restaurants of the World subtheme might have to follow suit.
A country pub build would offer the same cosy family feel. Imagine wooden benches on wet grass, a sloping, asymmetrical roof over a weathered white facade and grilled window glass. Imagine a sign that reads The Bricklayer’s Arms, The Lion Knights Inn, or The Forestmen’s Green, with the suggestion of pumps and barstools just inside the door. A gravel path along the edge framed by the deep blue (brown) of the River Severn. A pie. A pint (of lemonade). A cheese slope Ploughman’s. Bikes and a backpack, a sleepy dog and a daffy of ducks waddling by.
Unusual Options
Traditional and cosy are all well and good, but to ignore Britain’s wealth of eccentric eateries would be to leave inspiration on the table. The much-missed Crooked House pub in Himley has already been recreated in LEGO bricks by Chris Weaver (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9e8jxdgr79o), but there are restaurants on roundabouts, in tube carriages and shipping containers. Biker bars, mediaeval banquet halls, service stations… in short: if there’s room on your plate, there’s room on your shelf.
Save The Betty’s For Last
Cheap jokes aside, when people around the world think of British food, they’re probably thinking of shows like The Great British Bake-Off, in which the appropriately Danish Sandi Toksvig is astonished by a flan. Such shows have acted as wonderful ambassadors for cuisine and country, so why not pick cakes and baked goods for this subtheme?
Betty’s Tea Rooms, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is a place of pilgrimage for people with a passion for pastry. Tea sets and cake trees, poached egg and pikelets – when it comes to traditional British treats, Betty’s is world-famous, and like much of our food, an immigrant success story.
Betty’s Harrogate location is as full of LEGO brick potential as it gets. Bold black styling with gold accents evoking tins of speciality teas. Wrought iron posts with hanging lights and baskets, tall windows with curlicue printing and a crescent of brickwork pavement. Throw in a fondant fancy, and you’ll have the perfect addition to LEGO’s Restaurants of the World.