Fine China

Fine China, one of the six food and beverage outlets at The Statler Hotel in Downtown Dallas, isn’t just a play on words but also a play on flavors, cultures, and styles. The hotel originally opened in 1956, during the height of the mid-century modern architecture movement. This was also when the Jet Age took hold, international travel became more widespread, and Asian culture began permeating the American Mainstream. The design was inspired by the romanticism of travel and experiencing authentic Asian cuisine, pulling from various Asian dining experiences, from dim-sum fine dining to home cooking to street food.

A 30-foot-long dining table (the longest in Dallas, seating 28 diners) welcomes guests and emphasizes the importance of communal dining in Asian culture. The collective experience is again defined by the three private dining rooms, which can serve parties of 10 or the custom velvet curtains can be pulled back to create one large space. A walnut-topped bar and lounge area are defined by roughhewn cedar beams overhead that wrap and terminate at the backs of banquettes.

In the restaurant’s open floor plan, the beams serve the important function of dividing the bar and lounge from the dining space while also celebrating the materiality and joinery techniques of Japanese furniture making. A bold floral wallcovering, the nature-inspired color story of the upholstery, and the addition of interior plantings bring the outside indoors. The gritty street food experience was introduced through unique details like custom light screens made from repurposed metal scissor gates and roasted ducks hanging in the window of a duck oven, just like you’d find on most streets in Hong Kong. The balance of the refined minimalism of Asian and mid-century design and the textures inspired by shop fronts and food stalls create a visual feast for diners.