As the graceful Amoura art travels all over the world, one can enjoy the Noble Wilds images in the elegant restaurant.
Vegetarian House - Celebrating its 20th Anniversary
Twenty years ago, Supreme Master Ching Hai sowed a seed of vegetarianism in the Silicon Valley, the world’s premier high-tech center. Being one of the vegan pioneers in the San Francisco Bay area, the restaurant now grows prosperous and bears fruit! The restaurant was transformed from a famous Italian restaurant with 50 years of history and cliental such as Joe DiMaggio, Barbra Streisand, Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Murphy & Bill Murray. The Vegetarian House now has hero’s of the vegan and non-GMO movement as customers such as Bob Linden, Will Tuttle and Jeffery Smith, world renowned GMO expert.
<A Brilliant Idea>
To celebrate our upcoming 20th anniversary and to provide our customers with a new dining experience, the menu was transformed to incorporate many new and exciting healthy options with dishes such as: Raw Rice Fiesta, Raw Avocado Tartar, Holiday BBQ and Sunshine Garden, just to name a few. In addition to providing organic, non-GMO cuisine, we also provide numerous gluten-free selections in response to the growing healthy trend in the USA. The new menu was well received by our customers, praising it for its diversity, creativity and inspiring new flavors!
Besides offering our customers a new and exciting healthy menu, we also aspired to offer a new, visually appealing environment to make the dining experience complete! Numerous meeting were held and many ideas and opinions were developed, but we were unable to find the correct concept, the one that felt right. Meanwhile, a brother browsed Master’s book “The Noble Wild” and was moved by its serenity and beauty. Suddenly he had a brilliant inspiration: “Why don’t we recreate ‘Amour Village’ in the restaurant?” From this epiphany, a co-operation across the Pacific Ocean between the Vegetarian House in the USA and the “Love Ocean Creative” company in Formosa was born.
<A Perfect Experience>
To bring the dream successfully into reality, concepts were discussed and many ideas went back and forth for over a month with Ocean of Love Creativity, trying to find the perfect way to integrate the artwork from ‘Amour Village’ into the space and functionality of the restaurant.
For the “Autumn Lake” image, in order to create a true-to-life 3D effect, we made the frame extend out from the picture to give the impression of actually looking through a window and into the magical world of the Nobile Wild! To give the lake a realistic effect, we needed to find the correct material for the surrounding wall. A decorative stone wall panel was our target. Searching every stone store we could find, big stores, small stores, inside and outside we could not find the right color, shape and style to fit our specific affect. One day after searching in a humble stone shop, we were about to leave, when a piece of wavy stone wall panel caught our eyes. “This is it!” We exclaimed!
To complete the project as early as possible, everyone was mobilized. The first thing we had to do was to paste two huge photos on the walls like wallpaper, in which professional help was necessary. When problems arose, the swift assistance from “Ocean of Love Creativity” allowed the project move forward smoothly. When the two ‘larger than life’ photos shined on the walls, the workers stood around them silently, as if having entered and merged into a serene and peaceful new world! The professional worker gazed at the photos he had just put on the walls, marveling at their beauty. When leaving, he declined the overtime payment and thanked everyone for giving him an exceptional opportunity to have such a beautiful experience.
<A Fresh Start>
We planned to paint the surrounding walls with a spayed textured design. No matter how little or how much texture we applied, the feeling just wasn’t right! Seeing our despair, a plaster worker, as if out of inspiration, splashed the plaster on the wall and flattened it with his trowel – the effect was amazing!! Exactly the feeling we were looking for! The effect of this manual technique gave a natural feeling complimenting surrounding photos.
The second grand photo is of Master’s retreat residence with an eye-catching red sofa. The image looks so real that some customers have told us that they feel they can walk into the photo and dine on the red sofa. One customer mentioned that the person who took the pictures must be extremely artistic to be able to take such extraordinary pictures!
To display various artworks from the Noble Wild series, we made a bookshelf out of carefully selected recycled wood found in a re-used wood yard. Through good carpenter work, tenacious color matching, precise lighting and a small plant, the effect was complete. The room was transformed into a heaven of peace and love, transporting our restaurant guests to ‘Amoura’, the village of love!
We have noticed young children are especially drawn to the two large photos, as if able to see something we can’t. Sometimes their parents have to carry them out of the room crying as they don’t want to leave! Some guests mention they just want to stay in the room as it feels so comfortable. After enjoying a meal, customers sometimes stay in the room and enjoy the artwork and take pictures with family and friends to bring home as a souvenir of their dining experience, often filling the restaurant with laughter and joy!
