Lagranja designs Pur, the new restaurant of Nandu Jubany chef in Barcelona where the Art of Cooking takes Centre Stage

The Barcelona-based design studio Lagranja has designed Pur - a new restaurant from Nandu Jubany, one of Spain's most celebrated chefs. Lagranja have designed a ground-breaking concept for the restaurant, where diners form part of the mise en place - much like a theatre.

“The concept came from deep conversations with Nandu,” says Gabriele Schiavon, who founded Lagranja together with Gerard Sanmartí. “He wanted to create a high-end show kitchen, but we took the idea a step further.”

Conventional restaurant layout has been put aside. Lagranja's intent with Pur was to make the entire space a working kitchen - with the intimacy of small theatre.

Situated in a small passage way in Barcelona's upmarket Eixample district, diners become part of the gastronomic process the moment they step in the door.

A state of the art kitchen, marble bar and oversized plate-up area (designed to look like a giant chopping board) take centre stage - where all the preparation and cooking is done.

Diners view the proceedings from curved banquettes - designed for 4 - placed around it, from where they can follow, at close range, every moment of their meal being prepared; from the chefs selecting the ingredients from the stainless steel cool room, to cooking processes and serving (the chefs themselves wait at the tables), making the experience more akin to eating in a private home.

To convey this enhanced level of integrity and transparency, Lagranja chose a language of handcrafted materials and processes that celebrate Catalonia's culinary richness. From the lab in their studio, over 200 cast swere created with fresh food stuffs - seafood, fish and various fruits and vegetables - which became charming, one-off decorative pieces. In keeping with therestaurant's ‘pure’ ethos, they were left unpainted, and have been placed in the glass-enclosed interior patio; their composition recalling early botany collections you might see in natural history museums. Their realistic shapes and forms; curly octopus tentacles, plump lettuces, bulbous broccoli heads and the like, were also reproduced in bespoke wallpapers for the project.

Elegant oak wood slatted screens, intricately interconnected to allow transparency and back lighting, demark the stairs to the lower-ground floor. Called Impur; this intimate boîte has been conceived for cocktails and chatter. Strong claret tones in various materials set the scene for light-hearted decadence at the bar area. Moon-shaped sconces, created from alabaster by Lagranja, adorn the walls, next to atelier-like mirrors placed to add depth to the space during low ebbs. A small dance floor is a place to let loose after the unadulterated gastronomic experience that Pur offers, and Lagranja's own Round armchair, provides the seating.

The wash rooms are a burst of colour, with carved marbles inks that echo the luxurious ambiance of Impur.

Like Lagranja's other recent projects, that include the new Me Sitges Terramar Hotel and The Populist Bebek boutique brewery in Istanbul, the studio fuses elegant, functional design using traditional arts and crafts processes and noble materials for Pur. By re-thinking the established orders of hospitality, they have created a fresh, experiential concept in destination dining. Perhaps

Lagranja's design philosophy holds the key; “Avoiding ‘overcooking’ a projectis vital. If you’ve got a good idea - like a good ingredient in the kitchen - you really have to learn when it is time to stop, and save the integrity of the concept.”

Source: Lagranja Design
Photos: Salva López
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