[Photos: Gizelle Lau]
Stroll into Little Portugal's Café Bar Pasta and instantly feel a variety of warm textures streaming from every nook. Edging towards its first anniversary, owners Tom Bielecki (interviewed here) and Christine Vieira, also the restaurant's designer, survived a difficult year, in part because they sank so much money on the space, an interstice between modern art and high-end rustic. Café Bar Pasta mixes massive marble structures with knotty maple butcher block tables, psychedelically colourful wallpapers with elegant chandeliers, huge artistic statements and custom-built pieces that all combine to compliment the restaurant's multi-headed approach to cuisine prepared by Chef Jay Scaife. Keep strolling and feel free to touch the art.