The location of the venue — in the former French concession — has an international aura. Art Deco or British Cottage style houses line the streets and plane trees form a dense canopy. From 1849 to 1943 the district belonged to the French government but in the early 20th century it evolved into the preferred residential quarter for well-to-do Chinese and Europeans. Franck Pecol clearly feels at home in the neighbourhood. The Frenchman came to Shanghai in 2004 and has since established a French bistrot, a bakery, a taco bar — and now Rachel’s — here. He chose a one-storey annex to a residential house that had served as a restaurant before and commissioned China’s most successful interior designers and architects, Neri & Hu, for the conversion. They left the building form and existing steel structure largely untouched but added a new large skylight with mirrored reveals in the roof. The architects emphasised the horizontal planes and used other optical effects to make the small 94 m² room look bigger. They created an oversized roof overhang and inserted steel-framed mirrored glass into the longitudinal wall. The steel-and-glass folding windows of the entrance facade are identical in design but feature clear glass above parapet height and textured glass below.
Single-source design
For the interiors Neri & Hu gained inspiration from the classic American diners of the post-war period but didn’t replicate their somewhat synthetic atmosphere. The floors and bases of the fixed tables are covered with hand-painted cement tiles adorned with a three-dimensional cube motif. Other prominent materials used are grey lacquered steel and walnut wood. Almost all of the fixtures were custom designed by Neri & Hu, from the industrial look pendant lights to the table tops, which feature recesses designed to accommodate guests’ aluminium trays. The tables in the centre of the room come with seats attached to the table bases by steel brackets. Because the seats rotate outwards they can easily be grouped in pairs.
The design reflects Rachel’s motto — “Simplicity in a bun” — in a striking way. Apparently it was too timeless and not “cosy” enough for the client however; just a year after opening he replaced the fixed tables and stools with resopal tables, red vinyl leather sofas and French style bistro chairs.
