Oh Deer, what a window!

I walked into the foyer today to be welcomed by this!  A Vintage Finds oeil-de-boeuf being used as a frame for a deers head!  Eye-catching!  I have seen them repurposed as frames and mirrors, but never something this fun!

I love the window displays at the Woolloongabba Antique Centre (where I have 'Vintage Finds').  As you know, the antique centre is a mix of dealers who bring their own personal styles of collecting and selecting.  Furniture which ranges from classically designed from Denmark or to mid-century commercial from the USA.  Glass collections, Tiffany jewellery specialists, painted furniture, vintage kitchen wares.  The front displays and in the windows at the antique centre, are an ever changing eclectic juxtaposition of so much of this put together in a vignette!

And before I go on, I can hear you say as you read this - 'an oeil-de-what?'

An oeil-de-boeuf is the french architectural term for the round or oval windows on the top most floors of Parisian roofs (translation: bull's eye).

{images via A+B Kasha, My French Country Home and Wikipedia}

You can seen them elsewhere in France of course, but they are most recognisable as the baroque ornamentation around the little attic windows protruding from the zinc roof as you walk the streets of Paris.

{image Vintage Finds}

{image Vintage Finds}

Asking around, I have managed to find a sheet of lovely original old mirror, in a storage shed at my framers!, and so am able to give you some contacts should you wish to have this beautiful original zinc piece from France, repurposed as a feature mirror.

Come by over the weekend to check it out, it's worth a look!
Jennifer.
x

Ma Cocotte: new restaurant in the Paris markets of St-Ouen

This summer in Paris, my best find has been Ma Cocotte, the fantastic restaurant in la puces de Clignancourt et St-Ouen.  This new place to eat makes a pleasant change to the more traditional restaurant fare in this little corner of Paris.  Annually so many people make a pilgrimage to the most famous of Paris' flea markets, that frankly it was about time that a beautiful and modern Paris restaurant has found it way there!

{image vintage finds}

Created from the ground up by French design royalty Philippe Starck, equally well known as an interior designer and for his industrial design and consumer goods, this restaurant could never fail to please visually.  And it also hits the mark wonderfully for a perfect lunch time meal on a sunny Sunday stroll at the markets!

{image unknown source}

Starck has personally sourced items from the flea markets of St-Ouen - thus - far from creating a modern restaurant at odds with it's surroundings - the restaurant sits so comfortably within the markets of Paul Bert and Serpette you could think it is a newly opened vintage store!

Starck in his restaurant

His inspiration was the dealers' own lunch time meal tables laid out to share with their friends, their laughter and chatter.  He wanted a place of his own to eat on his regular trips to the markets, with his own friends to share laughter and chatter.  From this modest plan, comes the transformation of an industrial building to a 'market must-do'!

{image Sarah Lavoine}

And hopefully you won't be as naive as I am, to the video art installation! On the back wall, against the natural bricks are two artworks framed identically, one photographic, or rather I thought both were - until the image of a person leaning on the glass partition appeared different each time I looked away and then looked back!

{image via Ma Cocotte}

The surprise downstairs in this vintage styling utopia, are that the bathrooms are a sea of utilitarian white tile and 'public bathhouse' styling that have been said to resemble something from Kubrick's 2001!

{image The Wall Street Journal}

Last year when I was there this building at the entrance to the Paul-Bert market could have been mistaken for a cement parking garage.  Starck refers to the building as a 'monopoly house' which now houses this two-story hip restaurant with so much Parisian design cred.

From the vintage furniture selection to the wood and steel panel lift garage doors, a contemporary and deliciously simple menu, arranged to share with friends; this is an exciting new addition to the traditional brasserie fare of St-Ouen.

Hope you take the time to enjoy on your next visit!
Jennifer.
x


MA COCOTTE
106, Rue des Rosiers 94400 Saint-Ouen
T: 01 49 51 70 00

OPEN DAILY
12pm to 3pm and 7pm to 11pm Weekdays
8am to 11pm Saturday and Sunday