Yaya's — Mike Liu

Shanghai is no stranger to Italian cuisine, but the team behind Yaya’s saw the need to reframe pasta in an approachable and comforting context by opening a neighborhood eatery that provided quality, al dente pasta. Yaya’s required a space that truly carries a neighborhood vibe, a place where eating pasta was not a fancy occasion, but rather a frequent and comforting affair.
The design process opened with the question of the meaning of “a neighborhood place,” recounting personal places of significance to find a common essence, hours of handmade pasta training, and the consumption of meters of pasta.
The team came to the consensus that being ‘a neighborhood place’ was tied to the generosity of space, an air of historical significance, and the absence of refined design details. The generosity of space called to mind experiences of places with high ceilings, open windows that allowed natural light, and large public projects like park lawns.

The design responded with a proposal that had large and transparent features; to be generous with space, an open kitchen with a counter dining experience was installed to encourage interaction between guests and cooks. The oversized bench that ties a wall together, exposed ceiling, and an operable facade that opens up to the sunlit alley were also built to emphasize generosity.
The proposal steered away from the rough, raw, and often seen industrial aesthetic, but moved towards a look that felt more worn in and treated with a bit of tender loving care. Foundational walls were signed by fans of the growing concept before finish materials were applied, the rough wall under the removed tiles were given a fresh coat of paint, the floor scars from demolished partitions were patched with floral mosaics done by the kitchen team.

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