For Wenzhou natives, Shunfenglou has, for over 35 years, been a byword for home-style cooking and wok-seared seafood. Its second-generation owners, however, spotted an opportunity to modernise the brand.
The blue-on-blue interiors – lined with undulating gold waves, abstract fish-scales cut into perforated aluminium panels, and flashes of brass and silver around the door frames of the VIP private dining rooms – were conceived by Topos Design Clans, the Shanghai-based designers semaphoring a distinct aquatic theme, but, save for the shoals of copper fish decals on the terrazzo floor, avoiding overly literal tropes.
Jin Ye, the mother of the owner, takes charge of the kitchen, sending out seemingly unending iterations of seafood-based delicacies, including fish skin braised with garlic, and san si qiao yu, a local favourite of fish cooked with chicken, ham and wood mushrooms.
-
The Standard’s new hotel brings signature swagger to Thailand’s silvery sandsWith its design-driven new Thai resort, The Standard Pattaya Na Jomtien, the boutique hotel brand bets on modernist nostalgia
-
Tour this Chinese eco-farm, an imaginative wonderland connecting visitors with natureLuxeIsland Farm by Various Associates is an eco-farm and visitor attraction in China’s picturesque Wuhan region; take a stroll across its fantastical landscape
-
Ed Ruscha’s foray into chocolate is sweet, smart and very AmericanArt and chocolate combine deliciously in ‘Made in California’, a project from the artist with andSons Chocolatiers
-
A discreet bolthole adds historic charm to Chongqing’s skyscraper jumbleWith a landscape bristling with gleaming towers, Sunyata Ren’ai Hall Hotel quietly emerges as the Chinese city’s most design-forward stay
-
Discover a futuristic bar in Shanghai with mad-scientist energyPenicillin opens in Shanghai with a clinical steel and concrete design by LC Studio alongside trailblazing, sustainable cocktails
-
A colossal ‘ship’ in Shanghai honours Louis Vuitton’s travel legacyLouis Vuitton’s The Louis is an OMA-designed hub combining retail, culture and dining in the heart of Nanjing West Road
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the worldCelebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
-
Prada and Wong Kar-wai dream up a cinematic restaurant in ShanghaiPrada partners with Wong Kar-wai to bring Mi Shang Rong Zhai to life, a dining experience influenced by the arthouse director’s seminal oeuvre
-
Enjoy heritage views and contemporary brews at a new Beijing caféJM Café, White Pagoda Temple by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio nods to the history of the Xicheng District while injecting a shot of vitality
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy designThere’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
-
China’s Alila Shanghai hotel is a stylish hub of idle tranquillityAlila Shanghai, the brand's first urban resort in Greater China, is a serene bolthole amidst the pulse of the Jing'an district
