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The black-aluminium-and-perspex light boxes on the ceiling are custom manufactured by Glenne at Gee Design. -
The Chinese poetry on the hanging screens are some of Emma’s favourites from her university days in Taiwan. -
Morgan Buttifant-Sewel of River Woods Kitchens & Wine Cellars is the person behind all the furniture, screens and display units in the new-look Red Chamber. -
Emma Chen in the new-look Red Chamber, where Caesarstone Red Shimmer is on the walls and countertop for good luck and Varmluft paper pendant lamps, designed by Jon Karlsson for Ikea, are a contemporary nod to the traditional Chinese lantern. -
The fish tank has been a feature of the Red Chamber since it opened 26 years ago. A plecostomus catfish, Da Ge, has been with Emma for 22 years. -
Youngsters Hugo and Max are the new generation of diners who approve of the new look. -
Morgan Buttifant-Sewel of River Woods Kitchens & Wine Cellars is the person behind all the furniture, screens and display units in the new-look Red Chamber.
PHOTOS Dook PRODUCTION Annemarie Meintjes WORDS Jacquie Myburgh Chemaly
Red Chamber, one of Joburg’s best-loved Chinese restaurants, recently changed not only its address but also its entire image.
When Hyde Park Corner Shopping Centre decided on a revamp that would take its retail offering into international designer territory, they invited their older tenants to join them on a journey into serious luxury. One of those was the Red Chamber, the Chinese restaurant that had, for 18 happy years, served what many regard as Joburg’s finest Chinese food in a fairly traditional setting on the upper level opposite Luminance boutique.
In the changes at Hyde Park, Red Chamber moved downstairs into the entertainment zone, around the corner from the cinemas and with the opportunity to spill out into the corridor. The new restaurant is looking chic and slick, and still boasts one of the city’s most authentic Chinese menus.
Restaurateur Emma Chen, who moved to South Africa from Taiwan at the age of 22, says she had relished the opportunity to revamp the restaurant that she had started 26 years earlier. Together with her husband Colin Myburgh – and with a fair amount of brainstorming with close friend and VISI deputy editor Annemarie Meintjes – she decided on a direction that is more Manhattan than Mainland China. All the traditional Chinese elements are there, only updated for the sophisticated 21st-century palate, using broad strokes and bold lines.
Emma says the new look is the coming together of years of research she and her husband have done on their travels. “From Norway to Beijing, we have always kept an eye on modern restaurant design trends, and this is what we’ve brought to the Red Chamber’s new look.”
The lucky colour red features prominently in the Red Chamber’s new interior. Caesarstone Red Shimmer engineered stone cladding is wrapped around the entrance area and the reception zone. Oversized ancient jade-green wooden doors against one wall and solid brass panels against another give the glow that is another Chinese restaurant staple – only updated.
The lighting at the Red Chamber is provided by graphic light boxes and an organic grouping of pillow-shaped paper lanterns above the reception area.
“We wanted a modern version of the Chinese paper lantern and Annemarie found these in Europe for us,” says Emma. “They are just perfect.”
In the private dining room area, glowing green walls are a show-stopping design feature. Colin installed a massive LED system on the wall behind vivid images of green bamboo. Emma says this is also a nod to the restaurant’s previous incarnation: “We had the bamboo upstairs, but in a more traditional style. We wanted the element of classic bamboo in the new restaurant but gave it a modern twist.”
It’s a theme that runs through the entire new design of Red Chamber: A classic concept in a modern design language that has successfully avoided any gimmicks.
For more information, visit redchamber.co.za or contact 011 325 6048 or [email protected].
