Marked individuality
Design must be invisible says Toni Chi, acclaimed restaurant designer, who was in Dubai to oversee the three new outlets he creates for InterContinental Dubai. Rajeev Nair met him
NAME, fame – they are a burden for this man. And money? That is what Tony Chi quotes high when he doesn’t want to take up a work. One of the world’s most acclaimed restaurant designers chooses projects for the people he works with, and never, he asserts, for the money.
He almost regrets taking up one of his high-profile assignments — the Aqua Las Vegas. Conceptualising the award-winning restaurant, he says, robbed him of his low-profile, down-to-earth existence.
Not that the man has changed. Chi insists that little has changed about himself over the 20-year enriching restaurant designer career. But a whole lot has changed in the way the world views him.
Chi, 45, moved in to New York from Taiwan with his parents when he was nine years old. He was good at making drawings, and graduated in fine art from New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology. He worked with various designers on varied projects but a chance meeting with acclaimed restaurant designer Charles Morris Mount changed his life. Chi part-timed with him, and five years later opened his own office, Tony Chi & Associates.
Since then he has designed about 700 restaurants the world over and includes the Harley-Davidson Cafe in New York, restaurants for Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong, and Hyatt projects in Chicago, Osaka, and Sydney, among others.
In Dubai, he created La Moda at InterContinental Dubai, “the comfortable little eatery,” as Chi describes it, and now conceives three prestigious outlets: The China Club, Yum!, and the Ku-Bu Lounge.
Chi, “a competent chef,” himself, had come down to Dubai last year to decide on the shape of things of the three new outlets. “The China Club is a comfortable place to unwind after a busy day, Yum! is a place people can come together any time of the day, and the Ku-Bu Lounge is a place, where I feel, will have delicious beverages. A beverage is the same anywhere but it tastes different here because it all depends on the environment.”
Excerpts from an interview:
You have always maintained that designs should not be visible. What do you mean by an ‘invisible design?’
When you create a public place, it is not about me, Tony Chi, the person. It is about all, collectively. When you have a collective people in one environment you cannot have a place that screams ‘Wow!’ The design should not be the most dominating feature in the room. To me the dominating feature is the people.
How do you then create your own stamp of individuality without as much as having a ‘design?’
Let me ask you this: Is Curry Chicken about curry or chicken?
A bit of both maybe
It is about balance, isn’t it? The chicken helps the curry, the curry helps the chicken. It is all about bringing maturity to your design.
Explain.
My standard is really about being basic. Every restaurant has a basic: People go out to eat. Why do they do so? Because they need to eat. You can eat from many different places so why should they come to you? You must create a place that is more desirable for others to come. To achieve the total experience, there is no one thing only.
How do you go about with a restaurant design?
I take on projects of only people I know. If I don’t know you, I don’t take your project. I took on the InterCon project because I know Henri Blin (the general manager). The second step is to talk about what we want to do with say a Chinese eatery. We look at how differently we can re-interpret the concept of Chinese. Usually, I don’t like to do Chinese because most people take Chinese restaurants for granted. The most important thing in restaurant design is the chemistry between people. Your sharing the vision together is important so that you can put it together collectively.
Going back in time, you had moved from Taiwan to New York when you were nine. What are your memories of Taiwan?
When I left the country it was very rustic. You had the paddy fields, and you could smell the fertiliser. It was quite beautiful. I went back in 1979, and I was so disappointed. It had become a concrete jungle. It wiped out the memory I had about Taiwan.
What about growing up in New York?
It was good. I learned to grow up on the streets. There were so many things I hadn’t been exposed to. I enjoyed painting, drawing, and sculpture, and I studied fine art because I liked it. Only few years ago did I however realise that fine art is a communication tool. Not many people know how to use that tool. My tool, now, is using shape and form, and using all the intangibles to compose together and create a magical moment.
Do you miss not pursuing a career in fine art proper?
I don’t because I still employ it in my work. My professional life, personal life is one. I still paint. I still make sculptures.
Are you involved hands-on in every single project that Tony Chi & Associates takes up?
I do. I have been doing it for 20 years. It is a long time.
In the 20 years, when is it that you realised you had really arrived?
I happened in the year I did the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. My father always said to me being a small tree is always better so that when the hurricane comes you don’t get hurt. I have stayed low profile for many long years. I have never believed in Las Vegas because every thing is fake there. I turned out Las Vegas projects for years. Ever since I took up one project, every body started saying, “Oh, we haven’t heard of you before.” And suddenly I was there. I am happy only to the extent that I get to know some great people there. Otherwise I feel very sorry I did it. I regret it very much.
Why?
I regret it mainly because the expectation has changed. People treat me differently. I am who I am. This never will change. Maybe I am more matured today than 20 years ago. But that’s it. Fame to me is not just me. When I speak to Gulf Today, it is not about me, it never will be. It will be about what we are doing at InterContinental, and as a team.
Has fame put a pressure on you?
In a way. Lot of people think I am very expensive.
Aren’t you?
I give a big number only when I don’t like somebody. Usually I am very reasonable.
Do you always work with the chef as part of your team?
The only way. But it also depends on who is driving the project. If it is people I know, I don’t insist on having a (pre-opening) chef. Here, I know Blin, I know Chef Uwe, and so I don’t have a problem. It is all about synergy. And, here nothing has been difficult except that construction technology in Dubai hasn’t progressed. Building construction has gone better but not interior design.
What is lacking in Dubai?
People. Schedules are still a hard thing to control in Dubai.
Just as a you had memories of the green paddy fields in Taiwan what is the one impression Dubai leaves on you?
Man-made. It is a city created by man.
