South of Hangzhou, known as the name card of the ancient Hangzhou town,is the exact place where you will find the traditional Hangzhou restaurant SHANG MING TANG(the SMT). Designed by YUDesigns, the SMT on the famous Qiutao Road shoulders the mission to promote the cultural spirit of “Hangzhou family cuisine”, one of the eight major Chinese cuisines.

By sorting and categorizing the abundant dishes and dining behaviors at the SMT, YUDeisigns intended to build a bridge between the tradition and modernism of Chinese catering culture, a quick path to the new customer groups. The ground floor made of carved terrazzo echoes to the carved ceiling, which generates strong originality upon entrance.

The dining area is on the second floor where seats and booths are partitioned by the black reception and orange benches. The beautiful mix of tradition and modernism can be found everywhere in the restaurant. Customized terracotta bricks serve as both partition and decoration in the dining area, the pattern of which evokes childhood memories.

In order to maintain the relaxing atmosphere with a sense of space and to lower the waiting time for elevator, YUDesigns paid special attention to the layout of passageway: to have the stairs painted in black, white and grey; to have the adornments respond to the dining utensils; to have bronze carved inside the staircases and, at the same time; to have light belts applied to the handrails.

“Ordering by dishes” is a revolution in Chinese catering industry. In this intuitive way of ordering, the fresh ingredients are usually prominently displayed with a corresponding picture of the finished dish right next to it. In coordination with it, a customized Mortise-Tenon cupboard can be found in the lobby. Magnified bamboo baskets and tableware in the cupboard revive the scene and stir guests’ memories of the good old times.

In this rapid-developing catering industry, the SMT is dedicated to bring their guests with not only fresh visual enjoyment and dining experience, but also precious reminiscence about the lost age of innocence.