Prada is opening its first stand-alone dining space in Asia - Mi Shang (‘Milan meets Shanghai,’ or to ‘be obsessed with’ in Chinese). Launching at the brand’s restored historic mansion Rong Zhai in Shanghai, the restaurant showcases the culinary vision of the Michelin-starred chef Lorenzo Lunghi and master pastry chef Diego Crosara, who conceived a café and fine-dining space designed to deepen the brand’s connection with young, experience-driven consumers. Conceived by the famed Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, Prada transformed the second floor of the mansion into a cozy alcove that could be mistaken for a scene from the auteur’s most iconic films. Evoking a corridor scene from the film ‘In the Mood for Love,’ visitors are then surprised with a graphic wooden wall mounting created by Wong in partnership with Duo Yun Xuan Art Center, a century-old art brand that specializes in Shanghai-style woodblock print series.

Breaking away from traditional dining concepts, Mi Shang is spread out across four distinctly different rooms, offering a blend of all-day breakfast, fine dining and confectionery retail. The Caffè, the restaurant’s main gathering space, is anchored by an elegant bar counter, which was crafted by local artisans who restored the villa’s wooden elements, intricate turned-wood scrollwork and geometric murano lights, which whisk visitors right back to the high of Shanghai’s 1910s to 1930s social scene. Over at The Pastry Shop, which features vintage cabinet display reminiscent of Prada’s very first stores, The Pasticcini, a classic yet mignon Italian dessert is blown up in proportion and presented as a small cake, and joins other regional classics such as Cassata, Pasticciotto, Delizia al Limone, Panna Cotta, Tiramisù and a swan-shaped Bignè Chantilly, just to name a few, to round out the pastry lineup.