Urth Caffé Pasadena: A Tranquil & Vibrant Escape in the Heart of the Playhouse District
Urth Caffé Pasadena: A Tranquil & Vibrant Escape in the Heart of the Playhouse District
Urth Caffé Pasadena is an architectural marvel. A gem situated in the Arts District of Pasadena that not only reflects the Mission Revival architecture of the area but seamlessly blends Spanish and Moorish influences as well. Meticulously designed over a period of 5 years with great attention to craft and detail—the authenticity and craftsmanship is definitely felt when you walk into this very special Urth Caffé.
Exterior of Urth Caffé Pasadena. Notice the arched entryway and design features inspired by Spanish Revival and Moorish influences.
The architecture implementation was led by architect Victor Corona and his team. But the design, heart, and inspiration came from Urth Co-Founder, Jilla Berkman. And was inspired by the design of the Pasadena Playhouse and the surrounding playhouse district historic buildings. Jilla added the elements of Moorish and Spanish design—like the archways and intricate tilework, which was masterfully created by California Pottery & Tile Works (CalPot) in Los Angeles.
Left: Arched doorway with intricate mosaic tile work designed by Urth Co-Founder Jilla Berkman and masterfully created by California Pottery & Tile Works.
Right: Wraparound coffee bar and counter area, with the wraparound mural above. Green onyx marble flanks the base of the counter.
The building itself was built from the ground up at a location that was previously a shoe repair store called Zinky's. The company relocated a couple blocks away and Urth Caffé donated their historic neon sign to the Pasadena Neon Museum, which you can find on display to this day, for a little slice of Pasadena history.
As I write this, I am seated in the main dining room of Urth Pasadena. The interior is large, warm and inviting. The café buzzing. A feeling of warmth and welcoming envelops the room. Beautiful hand-selected tiles, expertly designed mosaics and wrought iron chandeliers abound. The music plays on the overhead—an eclectic mix that includes opera, Elvis, Celine Dion, João Gilberto, and more—which somehow, seamlessly blends together (you'll read more about this in an upcoming blog!)
The hum of the diners inside. The expansive wrap-around patio outside. Mosaic-tiled ceilings (outside)—if you look up.
Left: Exterior patio dining area with stone floors, arched entryway and mosaic tiled ceilings. Right: Main interior dining area.
There is a fireplace in the corner of the main dining room. Ready to be lit. A long granite wall reaches to the ceiling above the fireplace and is inlaid with an intricate and well-thought-out mosaic pattern. The colors beautiful—etched and complimenting each other perfectly—golds, azure-blues, tans, oranges, whites. Delicate flowers and ancient patterns echoing an ancient time.
A church bell rings in the distance. You are transported to another time. Another place. Yet—nestled snugly and securely here—in the heart of Pasadena.
Left: Fireplace in main interior dining area. Notice the intricately designed mosaic stretching to the ceiling. Each tile was individually chosen, cut and placed by hand.
Right: Exterior patio dining, with hand forged wrought iron light fixtures, mosaic tiled ceilings and archways. Wooden beams support the ceiling in the classic Mission Revival style.
A wide double-glassed almost floor to ceiling front door welcomes you into an interior that is beautiful and warm and welcoming. You are met by a wrap-around bar and counter area where drinks are prepared and orders taken, which is inlaid with an exquisite green onyx—echoing the sea. Above, along the bar is a wraparound mural depicting Urth's coffees and teas and a ride down the canals in Venice. Lush green tea farms, regenerative and organic coffee farms depicting cherries being harvested in harmony with the earth, Ugandan jungles and mountain gorillas. Another moment to be taken away.
Each and every mosaic and tile pattern that you see at Urth Pasadena (and other Urth locations) is hand and custom made. The Pasadena location has the most tilework of any other Urth Caffé—and the pièce de resistance, in my opinion, is the giant mural in the center courtyard. A masterpiece that extends from just over the door to almost the top of the exterior of the building and is set in a Moorish arched design with intricate hand-installed tilework delicately laced in flower and petal designs. And here's a little secret: If you look up at this mural—six rows from the center—you will see that the tiles are finished in a real gold glaze. The sun angles against the gold in the most sublime and beautiful way. Just one of the many intricate touches that defines this very special Urth Caffé.
"Steve Wynn cited Urth Pasadena as the most beautiful of all the Urth Caffés
and he asked to use it as an inspiration for Urth Caffé Wynn, Las Vegas."
- Shallom Berkman, Urth Co-Founder
Sean McClean and his team at CalPot employed scrupulous oversight to ensure that the tiles were as intricately laid and presented as the drawings created from Jilla's inspirations. And many of the actual tiles themselves were custom made to fit the shape of the space in which they were to be laid. For example, on the ceiling in the outdoor patio area, the panels are not all the same size, so the tiles themselves were customized to fit the space. This intricate customization was repeated again and again within the various tile and mosaic designs within the space.
Exterior side patio area with arched double door entryway and arched windows reflecting the Moorish influence from the Spaniards.
Even on the outside exterior of the building this meticulous attention to design detail is exemplified. Near the top of the exterior of the building you will see that the tilework is similar to the tilework on the face of the Fountain in the interior courtyard.
Urth's Grand Opening in 2013. There were lines around the block and the City had to close of the side street to traffic.
Notice the exterior sides of the buildings and the tiled mosaics along the balcony's edge.
The outdoor patios boast wide umbrellas to provide shade in the summer's heat and large heat lamps for warmth in the winter. And this beautiful tilework and the wrought iron light fixtures and chandeliers lend an authenticity to the historic nature of the building and setting. And if you look at the interior of the ceiling, within the café, you can find a beautiful heart with wings. Which is a theme found throughout all the café's.
Exterior side patio dining - Left photo: adjacent to Colorado Boulevard. Right photo: Adjacent to Madison Avenue.
Hand and custom made mosaic tiles line the interior of the archways. Hand forged wrought iron chandeliers created by Iron Wood Designs in Santa Barbara.
In the back patio seating area, you can discover up high over the Urth Caffé sign one little panel/mural similar to the other, larger ones found throughout the café. It can be a beautiful treasure hunt in a sense, to find, and notice not only the murals themselves and their placement, but the various designs within them.
All of the iron work was designed by Jilla Berkman, including the light fixtures and the chandeliers and made by IronWood Designs in Santa Barbara. Master wrought iron artisans who forge the metal by hand using old world techniques and craftmanship.
"Basically, each of these components, the wrought iron, the tile,
the inspiration of the Moor arches and the look of the rustic feel,
spoke the Playhouse District Mission Revival."
- Victor Corona, Architect
Urth's architectural team, headed by Victor Corona, had to jump through stringent requirements to get this beautiful and unique design approved—a design that not only honors the local Mission Revival style exemplified by the Pasadena Playhouse, but as mentioned, also brings in other, more ancient influences to the Spanish and Mission Revival, such as the Moorish influence from Spain. The arched doorways and intricate tiled entrances and mosaics reflect this.
Ultimately when Victor and his team presented their architectural plans to the Pasadena Review Board, the Board was so impressed that the plans were unanimously approved. The way the design elements of the surrounding area were brought in, and the beautiful and unique tilework, created a harmonious resonance with the neighborhood and the surrounding structures.
And says Victor, "All of (the design of) the café's—it's not just me—it's a team. And its really Jilla who has the inspiration and tells me. I always tell her—let me be the hand to your thoughts. So, in essence when we design these locations, she is the first one to see the vision and we go from there."
Main interior dining area - day view. Urth Caffé Pasadena.
Want to know another little secret? Urth Caffé Pasadena has an annexed room called The Madison Room—a quaint, quiet adjacent room to the main café with its own fireplace, which has an intricately designed mosaic above it, flanked in azure-blue tiles and stretching to the ceiling. Tables are set up for guests to dine. It is the part of Urth Pasadena designated for to-go and online orders. But it is also a quiet escape for those guests who want to enjoy a bit of solitude and a moment truly away from it all.
Outside, in the courtyard between the main dining area and The Madison Room is a curved outdoor fountain, the bowl of which is tiled in delicate aqua tiles. Nestled beneath an echoed curved staircase also colorfully tiled in the same meticulously patterned mosaic.
Left: Curved, tiled staircase in the exterior courtyard leading to the second balcony area. In a curved nook below this staircase is the mosaic tiled fountain.
Right: Many tables at Urth Caffé are meticulously inlaid with hand designed mosaic tiles.
The outdoor area is lined with trees and bench seating accented with intricate aqua, orange, amber, yellow and olive-green mosaics. Each mosaic a perfect flowered circle of 12, mimicking the ever-eternal nature of life. The wheel that spins and unites.
Urth Caffé's ethos and heart shines through this café as it does in each and every one of its unique locations. Each with its individual personality. Each bringing something new and vibrant to the community it resides in. Each one a welcoming place to come, sit. Linger. Enjoy. A home away from home. A respite from all that is. A moment.
Left: Bench and tree area with mosaic tiled wheel pattern of twelve. Right: Grand Opening in the inner courtyard.
To the right you can see the masterful mosaic tile design stretching to the top of the building. To the left you can see the mosaic tiled fountain under the staircase.
Urth Caffé Pasadena opened to great acclaim and lines around the block in 2013. And it's been a hub and center of the Pasadena community ever since!
Look for upcoming features on Urth Caffé's other locations. One by one we will explore each of Urth's unique café's—each with its own story to tell.
Written by: Lisa Mouhibian