Carving Cuca

In this post I am going to share with you the very interesting process of getting some of Cuca items engraved with our logo. The idea was always in our mind but we did not know how difficult it would be to make it happen. After trial and error (you may remember my post about laser engraving) and being painfully stubborn to get it done no matter what, we found someone who specializes in ceramic and stone engraving with a different method: sandblasting. This new supplier, Pak Nyoman, had never worked on wood before but we managed to convince him to give it a try. The first sample was not good (that was one of our black days…) but trying some wild ideas led us to the perfect result.

For those of you interested, this is the detailed process:

Our logo

1. Sandcarving starts by making a sticker with the image to be carved, this time our logo.

Girls placing the stickers in the exact spots

2. The sticker must be placed in the right spot on the “parent material”, in our case wood and stone.

Item protected with tape

3. The whole item must be protected with tape to prevent any blasting damage.

Applying heat on the items

4. To apply heat to get the protective tape and the sticker completely adhered to the parent material.


5. A worker takes the item to a blast cabinet where he propels an abrasive sand-like substance onto the surface of the sticker.

Blasting in progress

Engraving on stone

Engraving on wood

6. The abrasive carves the surface only in the open areas of the stencil, while the areas covered by the tape remain untouched.

7. The desired color (if any) is applied on the carved area. As you can see, the supplier has already mixed our color and applies it by spraying it on the logo.

Applying color

Result on stone

8. Once it is dried, the tape is removed and the parent material is cleaned, even scrubbed. This proves that the engraving pattern and color are highly durable.

Washing and scrubbing 

9. The process ends by checking each item one by one to make sure it is spotless and ready to be delivered.

Quality Control 

Result on wood

We felt very fortunate to be invited to attend to this entire process and we wanted to bring you along and make you “accomplices” in yet another step in the making of Cuca.

"Sniff Sniff"

We are now working hard on our marketing plan and apart from coming up with strategies to get Cuca known, we are also looking at developing a strong and consistent overall brand experience.

It is not a secret that we use all five of our senses to make a buying decision, whether consciously or unconsciously and thus a complete brand experience must tackle each of them: what the customer sees, hears, feels, smells and touches. Today we are sharing with you our dedication to our guests’ nose…
You may have noticed that when walking in a cinema the smell of popcorn awakens your taste buds or that the aroma of coffee makes you crave for one. But it is not only the smell of food that makes you hungry… A 2006 study found that customers who ate at a restaurant that used the scent of lavender generally stayed 15 minutes longer and spent 20% more.

Reflecting on this underused sense in marketing, we decided to develop a scent that captures the essence of Cuca. We are looking for something casual but still sophisticated, uplifting, that pulls you out of your worries and into Cuca’s mood to taste and enjoy. Something you notice when you walk in, that you will remember when you walk out and that comforts you while you are with us.

We won’t release Cuca signature aroma yet. It is still in our head and in the hands of our aroma guru.

Lacking Noah's ark...

Back in December we were so immersed in all the planning for Cuca that we hardly realized that the weather in Bali was gradually changing. Summer had been amazing; the cold wind from Australia’s winter brought perfect temperatures and the driest months of the year. The raining season started gently in November but by mid-December was unstoppable. One of those first rainy mornings we happened to pass by the restaurant site and were shocked by the horror scene: our beloved garden lounge to-be was flooded and this was only the beginning of the monsoon season!!!

Frantic calls and emails followed: we had to address this problem before starting construction!!!! During the next few days we found out that the situation was even more critical. Bali infrastructure leaves much to be desired and there isn’t a proper system to get rid of any excess water even if we managed to collect it within our land. We had to come up with a clever solution and our contractor was the only person we knew who understands about pipes, water and geology. This is his master plan, right now being implemented:

The idea is to let the rain water infiltrate easily into the soil to reach the “water table” (natural water level in the soil) instead of just running-off on the surface that is what creates puddling and floods on the garden.

To facilitate this, infiltration wells are dug by removing the soil within. A “geotextile layer” is then applied to filter the water and prevent the sand from going through into the well together with the rain water, what would cause landslides.

The well is then filled with rock piles kept in place with a steel string cage. The rocks let the water go through to reach the “water table” and are covered with stones and soil to grow back the grass.

This system is supposed to be highly effective but have limitations in case of extreme rainfall as it would not work when the water tables are full and the water has no place to go…

Anyway and as you can guess, our contractor is now our hero. He has rescued Cuca from the floods and we will be forever grateful.

Wells being dug in our garden

Infiltration well

Rocks to fill the wells