Food philosophy

Chengdu, capital of China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, is a city with a thousand-year-old history suspended between past and present, between skyscrapers and traditional pagoda-roofed buildings.
Today, Chengdu is a city with a population of 15 million well on the way to becoming an international megacity. But at the same time its inhabitants remain strongly attached to their traditions. They sit in tearooms and play Mahjong, they stroll around the stalls of craft markets and enjoy traditional massages after work.
This same contrast between past and future is clearly perceptible on entering the «La Terre 楽田» brunch store, where the Asian inspiration blends pleasantly with a more western, almost Scandinavian style.
Extending over two levels, a ground-floor café and an upper-floor restaurant, the location stands out for its soft, natural pale wood and sand tones, enlivened here and there by a few pastel green elements, the terrazzo-effect porcelain floor and contrasting black metal profiles.
The café features a series of semi-circular upholstered alcoves, while curved lines are a recurrent design theme on both floors, taking the form of arc-shaped lamps, decorative elements and quarter-circle partitions, tables and chairs with rounded profiles.
Archetype Design chose organic, rounded shapes to create soft ambiences where space becomes fluid and separations are never sharp or angular. Instead, guests are invited to «stop, relax and enjoy exquisite dishes in a welcoming atmosphere flooded with sunlight».
Everywhere, light is dominant. It enters the café through the street-facing windows and a skylight filtered by a «plant lattice». The restaurant has two fully-glazed façades screened by slatted wood blinds, creating an alternation of light and shadow that makes for a warm, relaxing and typically oriental atmosphere.
The mood of the interiors created by Archetype Design reflects the philosophy behind the «La Terre 楽田» brand: a desire to «return to nature, to the earth, to the authentic, original taste of food». The ingredients are considered a means for returning to a healthy lifestyle in close contact with nature. They are produced in accordance with relaxing natural rhythms and should be savoured calmly and joyfully.
Food is the expression of a lifestyle based on the motto: «Respect yourself, respect others and respect nature». Or, as written on a wall in the brunch store, «Food is our common ground, a universal experience». The designers fully achieved their goal of creating a space that would be both relaxing and engaging, where materials, forms, furnishings, natural elements, lighting and food presentation come together to deliver a multisensorial and immersive food-tasting experience.
In a space dominated by a wealth of material textures, Chinese and European aesthetics coexist in an utterly contemporary style, further enhanced by the choice of Italian porcelain floor tiles from the Digitalart collection by Ceramica Sant’Agostino. Chosen in a 60×60 cm size, these tiles are inspired by stone terrazzo floors (with their artistic, decorative and modernist interpretation of nature) and feature an innovative fabric effect that helps create the soft, relaxing atmosphere sought by the designers.