Peter Shui '99

Diners in trendy E. C. Eatery in Hong Kong's Kowloon district are experiencing a bit of Oswego wonder. Peter Shui '99, who helped create sets for productions in Waterman Theatre during his undergraduate days, designed the fusion-Asian restaurant.
He has two others in the works, including a Mediterranean-themed restaurant, set to open in the fall.

How does a theatre major from Oswego wind up designing restaurants half a world away? Shui himself is surprised at where his Oswego education has taken him.

"I never ever thought I would be in the restaurant business, but I quite enjoy it," he said. "It really utilizes my skills learned in Oswego — my theatre background, and the graphics part. It is a joy."

Shui came to Oswego as an international student, from Hong Kong, and earned a bachelor's degree in theatre and a master's in graphic design. He counts Mark Cole '73, Ron Medici and William Stark '68 of theatre and Cynthia Clabough of graphic design among his biggest professional influences.

While at Oswego he spent a semester in London and followed that up working at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival. After graduation, he worked for a while in San Francisco and New York City. In 2003 he returned home to Hong Kong and opened his own design firm, doing print ads and developing television commercials for clients.

He began doing some interior design work for corporate office spaces and in 2005 was hired as a consultant by a client. As business development manager for Hong Kong Catering Management Limited, he designs entire restaurant packages for the company, which manages 15 to 20 restaurants around Hong Kong.

E. C. Eatery, a Hong kong Resurant designed by Shui

His first design, E.C. Eatery, opened last autumn. Shui designed everything — from ceiling to floor, every single material. "I picked all the major and minor details: patterns, dishes, chopsticks, menus."

The first step is finding which clientele the restaurant is targeting. Then Shui goes to work researching what would appeal to that demographic. He develops a theme and style, and designs the décor and accessories around that.

E. C. Eatery's Asian-fusion style was developed to appeal to a young crowd, in their 20s and 30s. The company is going to open a second E. C. Eatery, which Shui will also design. It will be similar to tie the two together, but with a few tweaks. "I always want to catch up on the new thing," he said. He's looking at LED lighting and sparkling lights in the floors. 

Oswego alumni magazine caught up with Shui while he was working on Asadol, a Mediterranean-themed eatery, which will open this fall.

He calls the restaurant design business "fun," adding, "You have to keep up with trends — what people want, what the consumer wants."

There are a lot of new restaurants opening up in Hong Kong. "It is very competitive right now, especially this year. It's booming." The Hong Kong restaurant trade is bringing in a lot of international designers and there are local designers, too. "I consider myself somewhere in between," said Shui.

He gets most of his ideas from traveling. In addition to his schooling in the States, Shui has traveled around Europe and Asia, most recently visiting Sweden.

Still, he misses Oswego, especially the snow and the people, including Gerry Oliver, Marilyn Seago, and Mary and Mali Dorsey '97.

"I miss Oswego winters," he says. Who knows, maybe Oswego's snow or its sunsets will figure in a design for a restaurant on the other side of the world.

— Michele Reed

Read about more alumni involved in the food industry in the next issue of Oswego alumni magazine, coming soon.