Hong Kong restaurateur Yenn Wong has made her reputation opening locations in untapped parts of the city. After starting out with 208 Duecento Otto on a portion of Hollywood Road better known for its frozen meat and coffin shops, she has branched out farther west to the hills of Sai Ying Pun. Her latest venture gives British chef Nathan Green—who steered Jason Atherton’s cuisine at 22 Ships since 2012—a place to call his own. Named after his grandmother, the 1,600-square-foot, 60-seat Rhoda suits Green’s personal style of cooking in a refined space with an industrial edge.
“Nate is a tough guy,” says Joyce Wang, founder of locally based Joyce Wang Studio, who was a patron of 22 Ships and got to know Green before the collaboration. “We wanted to bring in aesthetics that were representative of him—hot rods, comic books, and anything retro.” His oft-worn Cherry Coke-colored Dr. Martens boots, for example, are channeled in the leather upholstery on chairs.
Situated on the ground floor of a new high-rise development, Rhoda’s most striking feature—besides its 15-foot-tall ceilings—is its rusted steel façade, consisting of garage screen doors “designed to slide open to welcome in the neighborhood,” Wang says, and entry doors tucked to either side. Within, the plan is orderly and symmetrical, with a decidedly motorcycle shop vibe. Wang repurposed stainless steel washing machine drums into chunky chandeliers that dominate the restaurant’s center, and a large U-shaped front bar is mirrored at the back to reflect Green’s open kitchen.
“The emphasis is on drama, with Nate on stage,” explains Wang. Because his simple, comforting food is heavily influenced by Japanese cuisine and plating, and the charcoal grill is a feature in many dishes, the team used a shou-sugi ban burnt-wood technique on columns and walls and handpicked cushion fabrics during a trip to Tokyo. And since Rhoda is derived from the Greek word for rose, the flower became Green’s logo and Wang lasercut Tudor roses into the wooden tabletops.
Playing up the industrial vibe, in Nate’s Den—a barber shop-inspired alcove that seats six and is intended as a quiet spillover space for the bar—Wang used chicken wire pressed into concrete on the walls’ substructure as a textural backdrop. Elsewhere, shiny copper tubes fashioned into wall and countertop lighting fixtures are contrasted with copper panels on the bar and open kitchen that are coated with a wash (a combination of detergent, vinegar, and salt sprayed on and left to oxidize, she explains) to give it an aged patina, while gray slate bricks arranged in a herringbone pattern front both, adding geometric interest.
“Rhoda feels different from night to day,” Wang points out. “Although it is in the middle of the city, it feels private.”
