Mott 32, a restaurant in the basement of the Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, is almost a secret, despite being in the city’s centre. Naturally, opening a location where there is no natural light is a challenge, but designer Joyce Wang used the unusual space to her advantage. To begin, the trip through a long and tortuous corridor was transformed into a sort of journey. The underground rooms tell the story of an imaginative warehouse that, over time, has hosted people and objects of every sort. The story is reinforced through graffiti and writing on columns, by people wanting to leave their mark, and objects from Chinese propaganda. There are five smaller rooms that accompany the principle dining room, each individually decorated with unique details, including hand-painted silk upholstery, antique furniture, collections of objects that could very well be family heirlooms, perhaps French from colonial Hong Kong. Chef Lee Man Sing was invited to guide Mott 32’s kitchen. With more than 35 years of experience behind him, the chef is known for his farm to table preferences and innovative touch on traditional dishes. Mott 32’s menu includes Cantonese dishes, dim sum, barbeque, all in family style dining.