Original, innovative and aesthetically pleasing, the new ChitChat Boulevard Cafe on Queen Street in Hamilton is full of life. Unlike any other eatery on the island, ChitChat provides customers with various food islands so they can scope out the choices before making their selection. And once customers decide on their dish, they can watch it being prepared skillfully before them. The Mediterranean style restaurant evokes images of outdoor cafes by the roadside in the south of France. Bright, colourful and airy, the cafe is furnished with wrought iron, wicker, rattan and wooden tables and chairs. There are six different seating sections including The Balcony, which is painted in sunset colours and outfitted with tasteful hanging ceramic clowns; The Terrace, which provides row seating in a country-kitchen atmosphere; the Alcove, equipped with green and pine wooden tables and chairs; and The Boulevard, a section in the middle of the buzz of activity. As well, The Pergola provides customers with some privacy should they choose to sit there, and The Courtyard stirs up images of the Roman Empire -- painted in yellow and furnished with courtly stone lion-heads. Each area is unique in decor, but all sections tastefully blend together to make up the entire look of the restaurant. "We hired someone to design the various backdrops and lay-outs for the restaurant and then we made a lot of changes to the original plans,'' said director of operations Frank Weber. "Once we decided on the changes, we went out and purchased all of the accessories and materials for the cafe.'' The restaurant, which was formerly a clothing store, required a lot of architectural changes before anything could be set up, said Mr. Weber, noting that the floors were dug up for pipe and electrical rewiring purposes and central air conditioning was installed. The fixtures and accessories throughout the cafe were purchased from the United States and Canada, although some of the materials come from other parts of the world, said Mr. Weber. Certain floor tiles, for instance, came from Holland. Mr. Weber also noted that he brought a faux finisher from Canada to work with a local painting company on the walls -- all of which are treated in a colourful faux finish. As well, multi-coloured fabrics are draped like canopies from the ceiling, which is painted in shades of an evening sky.

Said Mr. Weber: "We decided on the different fabrics to warm up the restaurant and give it that summery outdoorsy feel.'' Bushels of wheat and gypsy wheat can also be seen hanging from the ceiling as can wicker baskets, sunflowers and potted plants. Giant baskets filled with fresh produce, beverages and bread also fill the room. And other special effects include a lady's and a man's shoe on the respective bathroom doors.

The $2.2 million cafe, which took about eight months to complete, opened on September 18th this year. And the restaurant has already built a regular clientele. Said Mr. Weber: "We had a management team of six people with experience in restaurants to begin with and we trained the local staff -- none of which had cuisine experience -- to work as waiters and chefs.'' GOOD SERVICE -- Efren Caldozo, Desai James, Bisa Saltus and Welette Darell.

FRESH PIZZA -- To go, courtesy of Kim Douglas MINI SUPPLEMENT SUP