December 9, 2020
LA Times: Chifa Chinese and Peruvian Restaurant: Come for the food, feast on the look
The embrace of color, which won’t come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Humberto’s work in the fashion space, comes from a Cantonese phrase his mother would use when he was growing up. “It translates as ‘Wear this color, it will steal people’s eyes,'” he said. “I’ve always kept that in mind, and I think it’s why a lot of my work is about color.”
And the 500-square-foot, 48-seat dining room of Chifa is overflowing with eye-stealing color…A mint-colored terrazzo floor is inlaid with eight Valentine-worthy pink hearts and the walls are papered in a green and black pattern that’s part zebra stripe and part wood grain.
“It’s called Heartwood,” Humberto said of the wallpaper pattern. “It’s a collaboration with Caclico Wallpaper, and people can actually buy it.”
The Heartwood Collection, made in collaboration with Humberto Leon, is shown above installed wrapped around Chifa in a custom colorway.