Casa Capicua is a restaurant located in the Roqueta neighborhood of Valencia, which offers sweet and savory dishes cooked without haste, by the Benito sisters.
This contemporary design space tries to interpret the gastronomic philosophy of its young cooks. It was conceived looking for the maximum use, given its reduced dimensions.
It is the result of the combination of ceramic materials with traditional white Macael honed marble and microcement on the floors. It transmits simplicity, simplicity, tradition and modernity.
The colors sea and earth were taken from the Casa Capicua logo. The blues bring us closer to the Mediterranean and are represented by the use of indigo blue glazed ceramics, grout in the white tiled areas or mural paintings; the earth tones refer to the orchard, to the traditional house, confer warmth, shelter, and have presence through the use of natural color ceramics in different formats. Whites and grays complete the chromatic composition.
The ceramic lattice is used to create a sense of depth, it is not the usual use to separate rooms. It is a double skin, it is separated from the plane of the wall so that both with the Mediterranean sun that penetrates through the windows, as with artificial light, changing shadows are generated depending on the time of day. These pieces are from the company A mano alzada (Celosía Cerámica Natural Arena CLS 008 15,5×15,5×5,5cm). The permeable nature of these perforated murals provides texture and depth of field.
White wall surfaces are combined with inverted ceramic rasilla to achieve a unique texture. This is used as a cladding for tiling different vertical surfaces, including the bar; it is installed inverted, showing the grooved surface of the back face, thus transgressing the traditional way of installation.
The 20x20cm white glazed tile provides neutrality and contributes to the homogeneity of the whole.
Ceramics also appear, but in this case handmade, in the installation suspended from the ceiling designed specifically by Carmen Baselga's studio, composed of 168 ceramic fish, made by the artist Lorna Benavides, which brings personality to the space, making it an unmistakable place and adding uniqueness to the Casa Capicúa brand image. "With it we want to create a double plane, visually distancing the real ceiling and that your reference in height is the plane of the suspended fish, as if it were the surface of the water and we were below it. It also evokes the way our ancestors used to preserve food such as fish by laying it out in the sun and in the open air so that it would dehydrate, and which is still preserved in some marine areas."
A table for sharing, whenever the situation permits, takes center stage in the room. This will also be used for presentations of books on gastronomic culture, culinary demonstrations or interviews with personalities of literary and gastronomic culture.
The light with the necessary intensity on the work surfaces and with a more theatrical character favors the creation of an enveloping and warm atmosphere.
Outside, the terrace of Casa Capicua is like "a little piece of Portugal in Valencia". The use of the 5008 chair, "The Portuguese", so characteristic of the Lisbon terraces, evokes trips to the west coast of our Iberian Peninsula, it is a nod to the Atlantic light from the warm Mediterranean. Produced by Adico since the 30's of the last century, it is already a classic, still in force both aesthetically and functionally. The chosen finish, coral color, blends perfectly with the terracotta tones of the interior ceramics.
