Project: Chinese Tuxedo
Client: 8 Tuxedos Inc.
Location: New York City
Opened: 2016
Client Brief: Create an exotic underground dining experience that channels turn-of-the-century Shanghai glamour.
Highlights: Ideated and designed the visual brand identity. Strategized the social media content and snapped it myself. Sourced all furniture and finishes from marble slabs to engraved chopsticks. Optimized the floor layout for a staff of 55, taking into account peak trading hours to service up to 300 customers a night. Sourced all unique décor pieces for the venue from vintage suitcases to antique birdcages to golden cats. Collected an abundance of full sized imitation plants and trees to create the lush green environment that everyone thinks is real. Repurposed the site’s original materials and constructed new decorative accents such as mirror frames, shutters and shelving. Meticulously preserved the original opera house walls that date back to 1905, highlighting the history and elegance of the space. Designed Chinese Tuxedo’s award-winning aesthetic by foregoing traditional restaurant lighting with hundreds of hand-lit candles. Won some shiny trophies to prove it.
