Russel Davidson Photography Commissioned for the Panoramic restaurant

May 2, 2012 - PRLog -- Anyone who has ever been to Liverpool's most iconic restaurant can not help feel that it is more than just fine dining, it is a rite of passage to a magnificent vista of this wonderful city, and a cordon blue repast. I was invited to dine and taste the ambience and discover why local photographer Russel Davidson was asked to commission a number of images to encapsulate the restaurant's essence.

A short walk from Moorfields station the restaurant is situated in the West Tower on Brook Street, and I was greeted at reception and then taken up in the lift to the 34th floor. Restaurant Manager David  beaufort Dysart explained to me that whilst I was invited, people really need to book ahead to avoid disappointment, it really is a major issue for the floor staff to cope with the demand especially at weekends.

I was shown to a table overlooking the Wirral Peninsula and the delta, and the sense of history that this mighty river beholds, the view simply is exquisite with floor to ceiling windows, and the restaurant boasts the highest restaurant in the UK status. The river views and the panorama of the city from the three graces, the cathedrals, to as far as Mount Snowdon were astonishing.

Russel a tall Scotsman whom has lived on the Wirral for many years, and has not lost his Aberdeen granite brogue, explained to me how proud he was to be linked with such a salubrious establishment and what he wanted to achieve with this photographic project.

"It's important to me to capture the taste of the food in my pictures as much as the views here, I think it is a hard act for the food to compete with the views and it is vital that the food is  well presented and is a  good representation of it's quality.

I was offered this commission based on the images from my website russeldavidsonphotograpy.com where I have been active sharing my portraits and landscape images and the Panoramic asked me to come in and capture the restaurant's flavour in my own images."

We were offered the wine list and chose a rich, juicy Merlot, from the idyllic Colchagua Valley in Central Chile!. Complimentary mini bread loaves were presented which are cooked in house and was warm, soft and delicious. We then began with scallops which was garnished with Madeira sauce over the wild mushroom duxelle, which was very succulent, the flavours were very distinct and exciting. I then opted for the Halibut with chickpea falafel, chorizo, peas, and clams for my main and it was superb, it was a recommendation from David the manager who has tried everything since taking over the post recently, and I will take his recommendation next time I go. I was unable to concentrate on anything Russel was telling me, and he smirked and asked if I was enjoying the fish, that was an understatement!

Russel went for the Scottish fillet of beef with thyme quinoa, onions, creamed savoy cabbage, parsley and he ordered the steak rare and I tried a piece and it simply melted in my mouth.

For dessert I went for the Creme Caramel with brown bread ice cream, vanilla tuille, and it's been so long since I had a dessert, as the places that I eat for lunch running between appointments don't really lend to the creative side of food, unless you consider sticking a wafer in a square of Vanilla as spontaneous artistic licence, however here at the Panoramic, the occasion warrants dessert, and if my choice looked like anything that was being served up and brought out of the kitchen I could not wait to see it, I felt like a child all over again! All I will say is it danced on my palate as much as it's appearance made me want to go back to the Tate gallery the next day and re-awaken my love of art!

The meal some may say would be expensive at around £100 for one, however the people that would say that in my humble opinion, are the people that have stood outside and just looked at the menu.

Russel showed me some of the pictures he had taken, he had spent all day at the establishment, taking literally hundreds of pictures of the food, the staff and the views, and I was really impressed with his work, even mixing sepia in with colour to create some great moods and they were all representative of the experience I had of the Panoramic, which was a feeling that I had given myself a unique experience, of professional service and vibrant and wholesome food washed down with awe inspiring views of the blazing amber sunset over the Wirral and Welsh mountains.

More photographs of the Panoramic can be found on  http://russeldavidsonphotography.com