An Immersive Chinese Culinary Experience Shaped by Light
The Light Gathering in the Yuàn was a culinary spectacle.
Photo by Doublespace Photography
Opening the heavy door to Mason Studio on a blistering cold day in Toronto’s west end, one is enveloped in warmth and a sense of ease. Inside, dim lighting and atmospheric music set a tranquil tone, and guests receive slippers and a cup of hot tea (infused with dried pear, Chinese red date, and goji berries) before padding into a quasi-Chinese courtyard for an evening of food, light, and connection.
The Light Gathering in the Yuàn, hosted by Mason Studio founder Stanley Sun and celebrated local chef Eva Chin, with light design by Vyvyd Lighting, is in preparation for the Lunar New Year and part of DesignTO week, but its purpose extends well beyond the festival. Sun and Chin are exploring their own relationships to their Chinese heritage through their respective crafts, and the combination is exquisite.
Photo by Doublespace Photography
Photo by Doublespace Photography
In one corner of the courtyard, or yuàn, is a mahjong table, and the curved shingles of a traditional Chinese roof surround the space. Red lanterns hang from the high ceiling, and the floor is a mass of pebbles with a path of stepping stones. It is here that a semicircle forms around Sun and Chin. “As a Chinese Canadian, this is the first time I’m exploring how my design is impacted by my culture,” says Sun, the son of Chinese immigrants who brought him up in Calgary. “Tonight we’re going to try to paint that story for you.”
At the sound of a gong, wooden partition walls open to reveal two circular dining tables with an asymmetric mound of rice at the centre of each. “I wanted something sculptural,” Sun says. “Something simple that people could question and wonder at, and maybe cause conversation.” The light is purposely low as we find our places, anticipation building like a theatre before a film.
Photos by Colin Outridge
Our first course is a broth of hoi mei (dried seafood) and winter melon inspired by the welcoming bowl Chin’s mother would hand her when she arrived for dinner. This is followed by seven more courses, including Sichuan green-peppercorn-pickled West Coast mussels, Nova Scotia green crab, and a coldwater shellfish terrine with a sauce from China’s Yunnan province.
“I assure you nothing you eat tonight is a traditional Chinese meal,” Chin tells the tables of guests. “But I am one hundred percent Chinese, so to me, tonight’s meal is as Chinese as it can be.” She grew up in Hawaiʻi, travelled the world, and worked under various chefs before settling first in Vancouver and then Toronto. In 2024 she opened Yan Dining Room, a 26-seat pop-up in Hong Shing restaurant, a Chinatown legacy (her business partner is Colin Li, whose family has owned the restaurant for nearly 30 years).
Photos by Zooey Wu
The idea for the evening event occurred when Sun and Chin met through a friend of a friend. They connected through their love of food and design and their backgrounds, says Sun, who aimed to make a Chinese space representing what they know as individuals.
Between each course, the lighting changed: Vyvyd had installed it for the occasion with the purpose of reshaping the mood and experience. “We wanted each course to have a slightly different emotional feel,” Sun says. “It was all choreographed, like a narrative.”
Looking ahead, the space, inaugurated as The Light Room, will continue as a place for events and programs, including a special gathering to celebrate the Lunar New Year this month and an ongoing collaboration with Chin and Yan Dining Room. Ultimately, however, the pair hope the experience leaves guests with a new understanding of the Chinese diaspora.
Chef Eva Chin (left) and Maison Studio co-founders Stanley Sun and Ashley Rumsey (far right). Photo by Colin Outridge
“We’re trying to create spaces where people feel safe to talk about culture and experience other cultures without feeling like they’re infiltrating or opposing,” Sun says. As the light lifts, and dishes from the last course (roasted rice milk with sweet potato and ginger) are cleared away, the success of the evening is clear: the easy conversations between strangers continue in the yuàn, and nobody wants to leave.
Mason Studios showed people how to incorporate nostalgia while still looking modern and being authentic to yourself, Chin says. As for the food? “I hope people walk away thinking that they should not put Chinese food in a box anymore.”
Photo by Doublespace Photography
