Minni’s Shabu Shabu
136-17 38th Avenue
Flushing, Queens
Tel: 718-762-6277
Designer: Lang Architecture

Sometimes it only takes a little rope to hold a room together. Or in the case of Minni’s Shabu Shabu, a newly renovated Japanese-style hot pot restaurant in Flushing, it takes an entire ceiling’s worth. Already open a decade when owner John Hsu approached Drew Lang of Lang Architecture about renovating the interior, Minni’s Shabu Shabu presented an interesting dilemma: how to hold together a 4,200-square-foot restaurant arranged on three interconnecting levels. “The spaces were very disjointed,” Lang explained, “not only because of the three levels, but various structural elements as well.” After discarding a plan that involved constructing a new two-story building, Lang went forward with a design in which 6,379 feet of marine-grade rope lines the ceiling, tying the three spaces together with an unbroken contour. Suitable for a restaurant full of steaming shabu shabu hot pots, the rope was installed by one of Hsu’s own employees, a longtime fisherman. Hsu, who is also a contractor, custom-fabricated the restaurant’s walnut tables, while Lang turned leftover pieces into slatted wall panels, creating a newly distinct entryway and waiting area. The result is a low-budget revival for a neighborhood restaurant. And a successful one, according to Hsu: “Flushing was thirsting for a well-designed, exciting place to be, and we now have lines around the block.”