The brain child of chef George Chen, China Live is a retail marketplace based in San Francisco, CA, offering a variety of modern, authentic Chinese experiences in one venue. After a research trip to Shanghai, the AvroKO team set to work creating vibrant, dynamic and interactive spaces that strive to de-mystify Chinatown’s many facets and ingredients while blending the aesthetics of contemporary China with western implementation. The marketplace connects retail, food service, culinary discovery and education featuring individual vendor and demo stations each focusing on a specialty ingredient or cooking technique, opening seating with wooden community tables and stools, hand-carved and hand-printed banners and signage informed by traditional Chinese woodblocking, a variety of materials including native blue Shanghai brick that is found throughout the city today as well as tile, canvas and blackened steel elements, a modified warehouse ceiling with brass bracing and more. The second floor is home to a variety of “secret” experiences including entrances and artwork as well as the tasting-menu-only restaurant Eight Tables, the Gold MountainLounge, and the Cold Drinks Bar.
Eight Tables
The key design concept of Eight Tables centers on the perspective of a second generation Chinese-American merchant family who has begun to incorporate American styles into their culturally Chinese life. Residential touches and mid-century moments throughout the intimate space provide a framework for Shifan Tsai, or 'Private Chateau' cuisine, an age-old tradition of elite residential dining. After navigating a Chinatown back alley, ascending a service elevator, and passing through an ornate residential style front door, guests are greeted in a foyer with a custom bar cart that provides personalized tableside beverage service throughout the evening. Scratchy jazz albums and vintage Shanghainese Crooners play from a mid-century record cabinet while guests sip martinis before being escorted to their semi-private dining table. A scalloped wall pattern of bleached oak, 50's era lounge chairs, and curated vintage lighting create a luxurious mid-century dining room, accented by brass mirrors, glass dividing screens, and rugs based on Chinese motifs. Hand-applied plaster panels inside the dining niches show reliefs of lace fabrics found in Chinese wedding gowns, and the AvroKO-designed artwork of digitally-modified sepia portraits of the owner's family recall the many familial stories passed on from one generation to the next, albeit in a modern application. The restrained palette of creams, whites, tans, and brass create a backdrop for a sophisticated, multi-course dinner highlighting the intense colors and flavors of contemporary Chinese cuisine.
Gold Mountain Lounge
The entrance to theGold Mountain Lounge is on the second floor of the China Live venue through a non-descript hallway inspired by traditional tenement hallways found in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1960s and 1970s. The back-alley feel is represented through the juxtaposition of both opulent design elements as well as simpler and sometimes even “kitschy” ideas. To enhance this feel, the AvroKO team layered patterns throughout the space, included a series of one-way mirrors with neon bulbs behind them, custom brass fixtures, and a vintage Chinese iron and wood mantelpiece embellished with dragons.
Cold Drinks Bar
This hideaway bar was inspired by the idea of a Chinese dystopian future with a touch of 1970s deco-glam. In addition to 1970s lounge-style furniture including materials like lucite, acrylic, brass, dark leathers and tufting, the AvroKO team retained the old crown molding but removed the center of the ceiling to expose the pipes and grid work, put custom-textured tiles on three walls, and created a digital art installation to give shape to the space’s dystopian landscape.
