Ma Peche
Catagory: Hospitality
Client: Chef David Chang, Momofuku Group
Project: Ma Peche
Location: Chicago, IL
Ma Peche was designed with the sense of discovery in mind. With a street-level take away bakery, adjacent balcony bar and two-story lower level restaurant, thoughtful connections between individual spatial environments – simultaneously dramatic, simple and comfortable – were created to suit each function. Guests enter into the bakery with slate chalk walls and an ice cream machine center stage. Access to the other spaces is discretely located behind one of the bakery cabinets. A narrow catwalk ends at the balcony bar with a multilayered bar top perched on a plinth formed by turning the floor up vertically. Large, oversized banquettes wrap the space, contrasting with minimalist finishes. Although patrons can glimpse the dramatic two-story restaurant from the bar, only upon descending the plywood tunnel-wrapped stairs does one arrive at a floating landing with overview of the dining space; cocooned in a two-story box of warmly backlit stretched canvas panels. Central to the space is a visually iconographic communal table in the shape of an ‘X,’ made of simple ash wood facilitating unique interaction. A multitude of materials of differing texture, finish and color were combined to create contrasts and juxtapositions inspired by the cultural fusion of the cuisine. Materials are ecologically responsible; either recycled or sustainably produced. Instead of demolishing existing construction materials that could be reused were reworked and given new life. Structural drawings were studied to determine where existing wall finishes could be peeled away revealing the handsome concrete surfaces behind them, making for interesting contrast with adjacent smooth painted plaster. The simplicity and clarity of the spaces and furnishings create a warm and inviting backdrop for focus on the cuisine. The contrasts, as well as use of casual workaday materials like plywood, particleboard,felt, canvas, recycled plastic and raw concrete were orchestrated to bring the owner’s downtown culture to the midtown location.