Paradox: Loving Luxury Lifestyle

(+++ Sad to announce this one, but PARADOX RIP. Not that it wasn’t foreseen. We tried to warn Adam about the sky-high prices and not-too-good location. It’s all dark now at the Paradox complex, with the brightest spot being the big sign FOR RENT. Adam had told me all his money is in the project. I hope he was wiser.)

Meet Adam Bryan-Brown: Briton, visionary and lover of the the finest things in life, who wants to bring something to Bangkok the town has not yet seen: Adam just opened Paradox – a multi-functional restaurant-cum-bar-cum-art exhibition hall-cum-retail plaza-cum-jazz terrace. An all-in-one.

Paradox shall become THE lifestyle place in Bangkok. “THE lux-lifestyle place,” Adam says. For once not another new luxury spa is opened, but something really luxury and really new. Located at Ekamai 17, Paradox is a compact world of boutique food, arts and fashion.

Designed for people who appreciate style and got money – and still ask for “value for money,” Adam says. “Our customers shall say: ‘Gosh, it wasn’t cheap. But I had a good time. And will come back.’”

Adam is the new demigod in town of the luxury niche market.

His project Paradox with its straight, if not harsh architecture shall “please me or hate me,” Adam says.

Clearly not a place for everybody. But for the people who’ve seen and have everything.

As the first outlet of this multi-functional, 100 million baht project, Adam opened the Paradox Restaurant featuring Mediterranean cuisine – but not the kind of flabby Mediterranean cuisine you’re served at Sirocco.

Dishes are presented like paintings, tantalizing taste buds in most addictive ways. Freshly baked breads and the house sorbet served for free. Of the delikatessen they got it all that is known from Marseille to Marrakesh and Algiers to Athens.

No way, we don’t torture you with our own dining experience at Paradox with a fine Chianti, Lobster and Polenta. Head there yourself and get hooked.

Set Lunch is priced at 450 baht, Set Dinner at a proud 1,250 baht. Expensive, you’ll say. And that’s exactly what Adam wants to hear.

He’s targeting the affluent above the knowledgeable age of 30 – who love to spend their money and show it. And who’ll still be positively surprised by the value-for-money Paradox offers.

Once finished in March/April, Paradox will feature its Art Café, the Wine & Cigar Cellar, the Lounge for cocktails, the outside Terrace with live jazz, private dining rooms, the Art Space for Thai art exhibitions and – last but not least – the Marketplace.

Thanks to Paradox Bangkok will finally be able to enjoy Thai contemporary art in a worthy setting and witness true performance art choreographed by Thailand’s leading minds of the field.

Marketplace will be the place in Bangkok for the latest Haute Couture from Paris – Adam has his own people over there doing the shopping.

Paradox’s retail outlets will will open with designer cloths freshly flown from Paris for 9 million baht.

As the affluent Bangkokians yearn for something they haven’t experienced yet. As Gucci and Versace have become worn out household names with nobody being sure anymore if that bag is a fake real or a real fake.

Once the whole Paradox-complex is completed its outlets will feature those deluxe bags of Hervé Chapelier, sunglasses from London’s Cutler & Cross, cosmetics of D.R. Harris – and the one and only true lingerie: Agent Provocateur.

Agent Provocateur.

Finally.

Most welcome to Bangkok.

Says Adam: “Sophisticated shoppers are bored at the sameness of the major brands and look for excitement, the thrill of discovery – something off the beaten path. We’ll provide a genuine experience in small intimate settings, a touch of the flea market for the super-elite.”

Adam comes from the tobacco and condom industries. He, by the way, doesn’t think that stuff was easier to sell than lux-lifestyle.

Over London, New York and Geneva he ended up in Bangkok. Where he puts everything he has into Paradox – a concept Bangkok is ready for, he gambles.

But get this: Even before Paradox opened, Adam received offers from Singapore and Manila to open other branches.

Because the rich and beautiful of the region are starving for real luxury. They don’t want to take the plane each time to fly to Paris or London when they suffer another depression due to the lack of true local luxury shopping.

But: You must not mind money if you want to become a customer of Adam.

Paradox will feature everything for rich people who love gourmet food as much as a trendy coffee bar, intimacy as much as live music, luxury as much as uniqueness.

“We got free WiFi,” Adam says. “Making our Art Café a place for people who love Starbucks, but don’t want to go there.”

A sure sweetener is Paradox’s wine list. You get a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot Doña Dominga 2006 for an astonishing 910 baht. Adam: “Wine prices at the big hotels here are outrageous. We just want to be fair.”

Paradox’s food outlets are managed by experienced Khun Charan, who opened Zanotti and other successful places. Khun Charan knows about the preferences of the local elite and brought along much of his old service staff – guaranteeing impeccable service.

As Adam knows the mantra of the coming months.

He’s well aware of Bangkok’s copycats who duplicate successful ideas with the speed of light: “I have to do it right and constantly be ahead.”

Copying Paradox won’t be that easy for those local pseudo-entrepreneurs.

Still. “Yes, I’m nervous,” Adam says. “But I have to be emotional about this. No actor is a good actor if he’s not nervous before the big act.”

Paradox
299/1 Ekamai 17
Call 02 714 42 56




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January 18, 2008 | Filed Under Culture & Arts, Fashion & Style, Food & Drink, Nightlife & Entertainment 

Comments

2 Responses to “Paradox: Loving Luxury Lifestyle”

  1. Thaistory on January 18th, 2008 11.28 pm

    Sounds like a cool place to chill out!

  2. oneditorial on January 19th, 2008 2.24 am

    Wow! I would love to go there too.

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