About Me - punke.paul@gmail.com

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Oak Park (Chicago), Illinois, United States
I work with restaurateurs, designers, architects, businesses, construction companies and homeowners who need assistance turning ideas, visions, carefully thought out projects and sometimes even bewilderment into beautiful, well crafted finished products. I began doing paint finishes, murals, signage and building custom furniture and art pieces after graduating from art school in the early 80's and have been at it ever since. My largest project spanned almost ten years and began when a client needed help with a restaurant concept that he wanted to duplicate. After the second store came a third, a fourth,until I found myself responsible for creating and maintaining the "vibe" and the look of just over 200 stores in many different US markets along with a warehouse/furniture/artifact/signage production facility to support them! Now, I'm again spreading my talents around not knowing what new project or opportunity is around the corner and loving it. This blog/portfolio shows only some of the work I have produced over the years. I encourage you to dig back a ways. Some interesting things in here! Contact me at punke.paul@gmail.com with questions, comments and inquiries.

May 17, 2010

Nando's Peri-Peri

http://www.nandos.com/

I just completed a job for this concept  just now breaking into the US market.  They have two stores open in DC now and are opening two in MD this summer.  The stores are very textural and all incorporate some "plaster" relief element.   Someone from New Zealand flew in to provide that element for the first two stores and did terrific work.  But, since I have a much shorter commute....

Nando's is a casual dining chain originating from South Africa with a Portuguese/Mozambiquan theme. Founded in 1987, Nando's operates in 26 countries and on five continents.




                                                                 
                                                      And the end result....