River-view dining

Daegu, South Korea’s fourth largest city after Seoul, Pusan and Incheon, is home to a restaurant that specialises in local cuisine but also “speaks” Italian. Named Maru Makchang Restaurant, it is renowned for its makchang, a traditional Korean dish of pork abomasum cooked on a special grill directly at the diners’ tables and served with kimchi stew (South Korea’s national dish) and vegetable side dishes.

Located inside an imposing modern concrete building with large windows that offer spectacular views over the nearby river, the Maru Makchang restaurant was recently renovated using Italian-made porcelain stoneware from Ceramiche Piemme. The Evoluta collection in particular was chosen because it is suitable for use on both floors and walls in public and residential areas. It stands out for its slightly irregular surface and mottled colours which echo the aesthetics of metamorphic rocks. Chosen for the floor of the restaurant in the Cosmopolitan colour, the Evoluta collection tiles help to create a warm, natural atmosphere and are a perfect fit with the restaurant’s minimalist and modern style. This sense of modernity is echoed in the cutting-edge Synchro Digit Piemme technology used to manufacture the Evoluta collection, which uses two previously separate processes in parallel: “The three-dimensional surface is no longer formed by pressing, freeing it from the constraints of traditional ceramic moulds, while at the same time it is perfectly synchronised with the surface graphics.” The result is an even more realistic overall look.