Maeli Market—Taiwanese Specialty Shop

Project highlights: 

• Architect: Suulin Architects
• Owner: Alice Chung
• Location: North York, Ontario

For thousands of years, the island nation of Taiwan has enriched distant lands with its remarkably diverse culture, rich artisan traditions, and the bold flavors of its cuisine. This new Toronto shop is no different, drawing patrons into a space that evokes Taiwan’s open-air night markets and transplanting the country’s culinary essence to the heart of the Canadian metropolis.

The architect came to know the owners through their original long-established shop, Kuo Ha, an anchor of Toronto’s Asian community. The owners—a mother and her two daughters—had been running Kuo Ha for many years following the tragic loss of their husband and father, but they were ready for a new shop with an unapologetically modern sensibility and expanded prepared food offerings. The new 3,576-square-foot space also allows one of the daughters, who has a background in French pastry, to offer a menu of nouveau Taiwanese food while reinventing classic offerings as fresh-made pastries.

Maeli Market is organized much like one of Taiwan’s celebrated night markets, where rolling carts and individual stands offering tasty bites stand against the country’s mountainous landscape. Even in its capital, Taipei, the greenery of the surrounding mountains can be glimpsed in between the tall buildings or at the end of street corridors. Inspired by this natural setting, Maeli Market was designed around a large fruit tree, and its stalls echo mountain formations in their differing heights. A wall of planters sitting behind the cashier is angled and offers fresh herbs for patrons to accompany their meals.

The market’s centerpiece is an open commercial kitchen, designed to resemble Taiwan’s sweet potato-shaped island, which activates the dynamic market experience surrounding it. Other references to the country’s food and culture are embedded throughout: A backdrop on the market’s east wall resembles Taiwan’s verdant landscape, while handwoven light fixtures, created by Taiwanese bamboo artist Cheng Tsung Feng, take the form of its tropical fruits. Materials for a feature sink island were carefully chosen to recall the patina of ceramic teapots, and a mix of olive greens and browns evoke Taiwan’s tea shops.

Since opening, Maeli Market has attracted a sizable client base that includes food lovers of all backgrounds. The project has expanded the owners’ abundant hospitality, and the shop quickly became a community asset. It offers regular events, such as cooking classes, and is a source for Taiwanese traditions, such as the boxes of glutinous rice that are shared with friends and family when a baby turns one month old.