It’s no secret that Michael and Eva Chow easily captured our haute little hearts here at the magazine. Not only did we feature them in the five-year anniversary edition of our Miami issue this past August, but we were so enamored by their creative intellect that we showcased their sophisticated style on our Los Angeles cover for the September/October issue.
The power couple behind the MrChow restaurant brand descended upon our South Florida shores earlier this year, armed with a reputation that was firmly cemented not only in haute Chinese cuisine, but also steeped in decades-long personal friendships with the great masters of the art world. With Art Basel excitement permeating the air, it only made sense to catch up with them again, this time to talk about their famed art collection and the works that grace the interiors of MrChow Miami at the W South Beach.
One week before Thanksgiving, while in the midst of preparing for the madness that is Miami Art Week, Eva took some time out of her day to expound on the trends in the art world and to reveal one of the surprises she has in store for the art cognoscenti who will take Miami by storm during that first week of December.
The Architecture
But before the big reveal, a review of the existing art and the architecture of MrChow Miami is certainly in order. The dynamic duo works together on the design of all of their projects, and this one was no exception. The floor plan of their South Beach restaurant is long and rectangular, a very atypical space for them to work with, Eva explains. But what others may have seen as a defeating challenge, Michael saw as an opportunity for greatness. “Michael is very brilliant at taking the space and the material and making the most of it,” she says. He demonstrated that brilliance by accentuating the length instead of trying to masquerade it, using it to his advantage so that when someone enters the effect is like a long runway of a restaurant. A physical illustration of that concept is of course the 125-foot gold leaf Swarovski crystal chandelier designed by the restaurateur himself, which Eva explains makes the length the actual focal point of the room. “I think that one can look at a certain given space and see all of the problems, but Michael always says difficulty is good, and in this case he was definitely right. We are both thrilled with the outcome.”
