Welcome to the first slab of gossip for 2017, carved fresh from the firm, ever-expanding buttock of Shanghai's F&B scene.
First up, molecularly-inclined celebrity chef Pierre Gagnaire is to open a fine dining restaurant, Comptoire Pierre Gagnaire, inside the new Capella Shanghai hotel at Jian Ye Li (建业里) on Jianguo Xi Lu. Once considered something of an iconoclast, Gagnaire holds three Michelin Stars at his eponymous Paris restaurant, along numerous other concepts around the world.
In other fine dining news, a new upscale Indian restaurant will open in the space that once housed Bocado. Let’s see if it rivals our beloved favorites Kebabs on the Grille and Rangoli – the bar for butter chicken biryani is set VERY high.
In other news, IKEA is no longer the sole representative of purely Swedish food in Shanghai thanks to newly-opened SVEA up in ol' Hongkou Qu. In the kitchen are chef duo Oskar Järleby and Tobias Olsson, who have cooked for Swedish royalty, apparently.
Taco Bell also opened the doors to its new Lujiazui restaurant. This marks the second time the US chain has tackled the capricious Shanghai market, after its first outlet opened in 2003 shuttered five years later. If the heaving hordes we saw were anything to go by, we reckon they’re in with a chance.
In healthier news, juice cleanse gurus VCleanse have revealed a new café on Yongjia Lu. The tiny shop sells their signature juices plus a range of pudding jars, healthy snacks and hot soups. Everything sold is entirely vegan and processed sugar-free, for all you clean eaters out there.
Meanwhile on Yongkang Lu, now employed as host to a bizarre new set of boutiques and cafés, one of the street's last stalwarts, Sliders, will turn into an El Luchador, proving that it ain't over for old Yongkers until the mariachi band plays.
DRiNK Magazine also reports that Shingo Gokan, the Japanese mixologist behind Speak Low will open a New York-inspired concept called Sober Company (ironically?) in mid-January. The venue will be split between three concepts, a café on the first floor, a restaurant on the second and a cocktail bar on the third.
Over in Sinan Mansions, a sick new Japanese craft beer spot from brewery Hitachino Nest is slated to open soon. Hailing from Japan’s coastal Ibaraki Prefecture, the brewery makes a host of beers and lagers ranging from saison, espresso stout, ginger-infused ale, malt ale, and even rice ale. Founded in 1996, Hitachino has been credited with pioneering Japan’s craft beer scene, and in 2016 opened its first overseas brewhouse in Hong Kong. Below is the one in Tokyo.
Last but not least, ANOTHER new cocktail bar for the new year. TRIO is the effort of former Heyday mixologist Kimi, and is situated at 36 Tai'an Lu. They're soft open right now, so go forth and get schwasted.
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