Inside Miss Wong, Laval’s Elaborately-Designed Chinese Brasserie | Eater Montreal

"In the 14,000-square-foot space that once housed Laval’s iconic mega-club Moomba, I step through a long, narrow entry lined with about 500 gold Maneki-Neko figurines and a coat check before being framed by a circular opening into a vast room with 22-foot-high ceilings. Designed by David Dworkind and Guillaume Ménard, the venue is an aesthetically complex, dream-like restaurant and bar that earned Eater Montreal’s Design of the Year; it riffs on various North American Chinatowns (initially inspired by San Francisco) while sourcing many materials from Montreal’s Chinatown, including paper fans turned into lighting fixtures, vintage neon signs hung on the walls, and round red lanterns suspended from the ceiling. The space is carefully broken into zones so the massive room never feels empty: a main area of high tables for standing, a raised platform of tables a few steps up for more concentrated socializing, and intimate banquette seating with lower library-style lights that glow onto the table surfaces and patrons’ faces. Throughout, complex lighting schemes and distinctive bar lights create different moods between zones and cast a warm hue that reflects off the wood and makes people look good, all contributing to a sense of discovering a new place even within your own city." - Audrey Carleton