Revellers will be able to enjoy the sunshine at a swanky new rooftop bar and restaurant in Nottingham - but if it starts to rain the retractable roof and windows will close to keep them dry. The new feature - a first in the city centre - can be found at Billionz Lounge in a side street.
There's no need for air-conditioning at the glamorous venue, which welcomes its first customers today (June 1). It has been built on top of the roof of the existing building, a former nail salon, hairdressers and solicitors office, in Trinity Walk, the cut-through linking Upper Parliament Street and Trinity Square.
Eighteen months in the making and "a significant investment", the end result is a lavish 50-seater restaurant and 110-seater lounge and bar. No expense has been spared on the extravagant set-up with custom-made gold mirrors, marble flooring and tables and the unmissable red illuminated Billionz sign.
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The menu is extensive with a mix of Turkish and British cuisine. The best cuts of steak appear... with the added option of Salt Bae-style gold leaf but without the hefty £700 price tag.
General manager Ben Wilson said: "I think it's something Nottingham has needed for a long time - a more high end dining and drinking experience. Any steaks can be coated with 18 carat gold. They will look phenomenal.
"We are basically catering for everyone here. If you're the kind of person who wants to come out and spend £1,000 on gold-crusted chateaubriand and a bottle of Cristal champagne you can. If you want to come out here and have some really tasty food and cocktails on a £50 budget you can do that and have an equally amazing night. We have made sure we're inclusive to everyone."
Diners walk up an illuminated staircase and past the open kitchen where meat is flame-grilled over charcoal into the black and gold restaurant and lounge. The window seats are the best in the house when the glass panes descend and the roof opens.
While a a first for the city centre, it's not the only venue in Notts with a retractable roof. Bronte & Co, a Turkish restaurant, in Sherwood, first introduced one in March this year.
Ben said: "Food can be served anywhere. If it's quite nice weather I can understand people will want to sit in the lounge. When the roof fully retracts you're sat outside. I think Nottingham needed it. There's similar things in London and Manchester. It brings a element to the city that it desperately needs.
"On a sunny day it will be beautiful. It's already a light and airy space but once it opens it definitely transforms it. Of an evening it looks lovely with the windows down but the roof closed because the red lighting is incredible.
"The roof can close in an instant and each section can be opened individually. They can either slat open or completely retract. At times it might be sunny yet very cold but the heaters make it lovely and warm. They kick out some incredible heat. It takes you to a whole different place. It's peculiar feeling to know that you're sat in Nottingham but it doesn't feel like you are.
"We're independent so we can do things our way and it means the customer gets a much better experience and we can bring something to the city that's been lacking for some time. We are investing into Nottingham in the hope that Nottingham invests in us. There are cutesy, quirky bars in the city and that's fantastic but somewhere that's to the scale this is and offers the experience we do I can think of nothing similar.
"It's an elegant experience. When you come here the whole thing is an experience. You are greeted by hostesses at the door, the staircase has a really nice wow factor, you walk past the open kitchen with an open grill and food flaming away on it. It's beautiful from the minute you get here and then you come up the staircase and it blows you away."
Head chef Lee Day has created a early morning menu with big Turkish breakfasts, omelettes, eggs Royale and Florentine, pancakes and granola and fruit right through to lunch and dinner, offering a diverse mix of sharers, bao buns, cold and warm mezze, steaks, lamb and chicken skewers, pides and casseroles. Curried lamb shank, chicken supreme, blackened monkfish and sea bream feature. and standout dishes include a wagyu burger for £26.95 and the Billionaires Fish Sharing Platter with lobster tail, scallops, oysters and caviar for £129.95.
But that's a drop in the ocean. If you literally have money to burn you can splash out on a £298.95 Bolivar Belicosos Finos Reserva cigar. A bottle of Peroni is £4.95 but at the other end of the scale is a £900 bottle of Dom Perignon.
Open seven days a week, from breakfast time to late night cocktails, Billionz has created 100 jobs. Ben added: "I think Nottingham needed an injection. I know we recently ranked a lot lower than we used to be in the best nights out in the country, we dropped quite heavily on that list, so we're hoping when we open the doors we can knock us back up a few places."
