Another Tile Addict restaurant interior: this time from the beautiful island of Sardinia. Here renowned Italian chef Italo Bassi has specified Neolith Calacatta Gold for the wall cladding, worktops and flooring of his new ConFusion restaurant in Porto Cervo. Bassi’s aim was to create a luxurious yet simple design in keeping with the glamorous coastal location and the restaurant’s high-quality dishes.
Neolith Calacatta Gold offered look and feel of natural marble plus the high-tech properties of Sintered Compact Surfaces. Using digital decoration, Neolith’s Calacatta Gold offers bold dramatic veining with a hint of gold.
“We were looking for a material which would exude an air of decadence,” says Bassi. “Since Calacatta marble is one of the most luxurious marbles in the world, we knew straight away that Neolith’s Calacatta Gold was the one for us. It’s not only stunning, it is also an all-round material that can be easily applied to most surfaces and cover all practical requirements. It also guarantees a great performance in terms of durability and hygiene.”
Genuine marble can be an impractical material for architects and designers on renovation projects as the colour and veining are unpredictable. Neolith has the added advantages of being lightweight, easy to handle and suitable for application over existing surfaces.
The Porto Cervo restaurant is the second one opened by Italo Bassi and his wife Tatiana Rozenfeld; the first being located in Verona. The couple wanted to reflect the coastal surroundings in the interior colour scheme. Sandy colours ranging from white and beige through to champagne, are used throughout the restaurant. Polished stainless steel and brass objects set off the colour scheme and give the space an elegant atmosphere.
On the food front, Bassi and his team, consisting of Japanese sous chef Masaki Inogouchi and Ivan Bombieri, combine Italian haute cuisine with Japanese culinary art.
The restaurant’s kitchen cabinetry was designed by Spanish manufacturer Doca, with whom Neolith manufactuer TheSize collaborated at this year’s EuroCucina in Milan. During the show, Bassi prepared and presented his food on the kitchen worktop featuring Neolith Pierre Bleue.
Neolith is 100% natural, being composed of clays, feldspar, silica and natural mineral oxides. It has near-zero porosity, and is also wear, scratch and heat resistant. Its colours are not affected by UV light. The brand was launched by TheSize in 2011 as a high-end compact surface.
A new post by Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, April 2017.