When Urth Caffé co-owners Shallom and Jilla Berkman began planning their location in Las Vegas at the new Wynn Plaza, they contacted California Pottery and Tile Works (CalPot). Jilla Berkman, Urth’s lead designer, has collaborated with CalPot’s owners Sean and Desmond McLean on tile designs for its Southern California cafés since 2002, as well as for the couple’s 1917 Spanish Revival home.

Shallom Berkman calls the restaurant’s focal point—an olive tree planter with a surrounding fountain/seating area below a star-shaped skylight—“Jilla’s masterpiece.” “The best aspect of working with the CalPot team is they encourage creativity and welcome challenges,” he said. “They basically want you to go wild with your imagination.”

As with CalPot’s previous commissions for Urth Caffé, every tile in the Las Vegas location was custom designed by Berkman, then handcrafted and glazed by CalPot artisans to fit various areas throughout the project. Berkman’s design signatures (red hearts and angel wings) are combined in tile at the base of the skylight. Gold glaze shines from tile inside the skylight, on the beams and soffits. Brightly decorated terracotta tile geckos arrayed in an interlocking M.C. Escher pattern around the fountain were custom-curved to fit the structure’s radius in the studio.

“We put a ton of work and a lot of thought into this,” McLean said. “Nothing could have been achieved without Shallom and Jilla and architect Victor Corona.” CalPot worked closely on the tile installation with general contractor Burke Construction Group LLC and Western Tile & Marble of Las Vegas. 

For more information, www.calpot.com. Urth Caffé can be found online at www.urthcaffe.com.