A Christmas Coral
A project we have been very excited to work on, The Lucas Studio had to leave dry land to create a coral-themed Christmas installation inspired by the ‘treasures of the sea’. And, you’ll have to dive into the heart of Soho to find it…
Manzi’s of Soho is the X on the map where you’ll find this buried treasure, and it is filled to the brim with opulent ‘under the sea’ decorations suspended from the bespoke hand made coral Christmas tree, leaving (deep sea) diners feeling as though they’ve entered a festive under water wonderland.
A spectacular Christmas tree, dreamt up and handmade by The Lucas Studio mermaids and mermen, greets guests in the lobby, hinting at what can be found the deeper you go.
We fashioned together beautiful pieces of snow-white coral, and this extraordinary creation is adorned with the same shimmering shells, oyster pearls, aquatic creatures, and magical molluscs you’ll find in the restaurant, all sprinkled with glittering accents of pearlescent pink and iridescent lustre.
Our Christmas crustaceans aren’t the only thing swimming around the tree, there’s also huge snowballs made of white shells floating from the top to the bottom and anchoring its base.
Let’s meet some of the tree’s characters…
Sydney
He’s a pistachio coloured reef shark and has recently become obsessed with the Manzi’s Monkfish Wellington for Two… for one.
Caroline
Caroline the crab loves to hang around at the bottom of the tree and judge everyone’s shoes.
She’s got a lot of time for a woman in a midday heel but doesn’t understand the loafers with no socks thing. Especially in December.
She LOVES the Peach Melba, can’t get enough.
‘Ollie, Ollie, Ollie’
Is what they all shout whenever he swims past and he hates it because he’s a very serious octopus and wishes to be treated that way.
He will take the Mussels Plateau every time with a crisp glass of Picpoul and would like to be left alone with his thoughts to eat it.
Simon
This is Simon the swordfish.
He has the fantastic ability of being able to laugh at himself, which is lucky because he’s a clumsy old fish, always getting himself impaled on something or another.
He’s the darling of the reef and everybody loves him.
He likes to try new things all the time and recently had the Dorset Dressed Crab which he said was the ‘bomb diggity.’ Caroline was livid.
The Michelles
Michelle G and Michelle B are ‘best friends’ but never seem to be having much fun together.
They will share a King Prawn cocktail and a bottle of Whispering Angel, but spend most of the time gazing at their own reflection in eachother’s pearls.
Pearl
The Queen of the tree, Pearl the prawn hopes you’ve enjoyed getting to know a few of her friends here on the Christmas Coral.
She hopes you can come down to Manzi’s of Soho and sea them all very soon, they are all mostly very friendly!
Oh, Pearl’s fruit cocktail jelly has just arrived, so she much dash.
Jessica and the team loved every second creating this magical installation. Stay tuned as we share more of our Christmas magic very soon…