La Hache Restaurant by Pascal Claude Drach // Strasbourg, France.

Pascal Claude Drach from My Beautiful created the branding and interior design concept for La Hache (French for “axe”) – a restaurant and brasserie in Strasbourg, France.

The rich history of La Hache dates back to the 13th century – year 1257 to be exact. It’s name remains unchanged from the very beginning, bringing about speculations of the venues’s dark past as the house of executions. Holy crap, that just gave me chills!

The project plays on the contrasts between the interior’s rough past, and the magnificent present as a home of quality food. The finishes and the overall aesthetic play the same game – materials are sometimes rich and other times austere. This approach is precisely what renders the space with a charming warmth, cozy ambience and loads of personality.

The wall of axes is a cheeky nod to the venue’s past, while the bar – made of old cutting boards and clad in polished copper – references the timeless quality of chef’s saucepans. Ok sure, I remember uni days when we would have argued these references were too literal and obvious etc, although I still think Mr Drach pretty much killed it… Boom, boom. (Geddit? Killed it, the axe thing…? Is it poor taste? Nah, it’s fine!)

[Images courtesy of Pascal Claude Drach.]