Can Cement Tile Give You Wings?

A logo of a stylized iguana with wings, representing the Flying Iguana Taqueria & Tequila Bar of Neptune Beach, FLThere’s a new restaurant in the Jacksonville, Florida area receiving a lot of attention. Flying Iguana Taqueria & Tequila Bar of Neptune Beach has opened to rave reviews. Chef Joshua Agan and his staff serve a fun and inspired menu that is Latin American fusion with hints of the local Southeast.  Along with traditional Latin American flavors, you can also find items like the “Dirty South” taco, with fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese, or the “Southern Comfort” taco with fried chicken, slaw, and pickled okra.

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The designers of the Flying Iguana developed a stunning, eye-catching facade using our exclusive Tradewinds pattern, from the Caribbean Collection.  Together with the interesting wood trellis holding the signage, this is a restaurant that cannot be missed. Decorative cement tile for external walls have long been popular south of the border, but we’ve seen more and more installations in the United States recently. This may be in large part due to the advances in sealant technology, which can preserve the vibrant patterns from the elements.

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In the dining room, the designers chose to use a large area of patchwork cement tile on the floor, and as a backdrop for the bandstand. They used a combination of our pre-selected patchwork tile at the time, and supplemented with other in-stock patterns to custom-tailor the blend of colors they were seeking. Not only is decorative cement tile a strong enough visual draw to use as an accent wall, it is durable enough for busy restaurant floors. Modern sealants help preserve the the appearance over time, and provide better anti-slip characteristics than original wax techniques.

Miss Jacksonville USA 2015, Sarah Rogers, in a photo-shoot against a wall of patchwork tile from Villa Lagoon Tile.
Miss Jacksonville USA 2015, Sarah Rogers

Our tile is featured in the April 2014 issue of The Void, a monthly magazine exploring the lifestyle of coastal North Florida. The Flying Iguana was the location for a photo-shoot with Miss Jacksonville USA 2015, Sarah Rogers, a hopeful for Miss Florida USA. We noticed they couldn’t help but choose some of the vertical Villa Lagoon Tile installations as backdrops.

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Our decorative cement tiles can also be seen in large installations in the restrooms. The designers chose our Torino cement tile for the ladies’ room, and Fiore cement tile for the men’s room. Note that the Fiore image is a construction photo, taken before the application of grout and final sealant.

If you find yourself near Jacksonville, Florida, everyone is saying that the Flying Iguana is a worthwhile stop, both for the amazing food, and the inviting atmosphere.

Cement Tile is a Recipe for the Ultimate Kitchen

 

Cover of "Country Living" Magazine, May 2014.
May 2014

Villa Lagoon Tile made the cover of the Hearst publication, “Country Living Magazine”. The feature article, “A Recipe for the Ultimate Kitchen” covered a beautiful kitchen remodel with cement tile in Rockland County, New York.

Homeowner Aliyyah Baylor knows her kitchens.  She and her family own a successful Harlem bakery business. Make My Cake has been featured in the New York Times as one of the best places to get Red Velvet Cake, and they won on the Food Network show “Throwdown With Bobby Flay” with their German Chocolate Cake.

 

"This floor is the highlight of my day," she says. (From a photo of Country Living Magazine, May 2014).

Baylor was a joy to work with. She selected the cement tile floors first, and let them dictate the rest of the decor. She also used one of our favorite designers, Rebekah Zaveloff. You may recall Zaveloff of Chicago-based KitchenLabs from a previous post. Her design used our cement tile in an episode of Kitchen Crashers on the DIY Network.

This floor features a historic Cuban cement tile pattern we once marketed as “CH-120-2B” of the Cuban Heritage Collection. A tile so pretty deserves a name, so we call it “Carmen”, available from our South Beach Collection.  Customize with your choice of colors in our Tile Design Tool.

Composite of the Country Living cover and article.

The full article can be found in the May 2014 edition of Country Living, or read their web version here: Aliyyah Baylor Kitchen Decorating.