Birthday Beats is a series where we check in with Shanghai staples to pre-toast their anniversary.
The multi-time That’s Shanghai Food and Drink Award winner reopens just in time to celebrate its birthday. With four events going down from Sep 9-16 including the first Mainland show by the King of Latin soul, Joe Bataan, we caught up with UNICO Shnanghai's Managing Partner Fabien Verdier to chat about four years of chic soulful vibes and what's in store for year number five.
Congratulations on Unico anniversary. What birthday plans are in store?
Thank you! As we are celebrating the fourth anniversary of UNICO we decided to do so with four exceptional events. We are mixing all the important component of UNICO’s spirits: great live artists and four years celebration of our signature events: El Tuesday, Chic n Pop on Fridays and the incredibly successful 'ELECTROPICAL' night that's been running every Saturday night for the past four years - certainly the most famous Afro Latin electro party in Asia.
Three of them are based on our signature events and the fourth one is our special live celebration. We are starting with a Special Chic’N Pop with the talented Italian jazz DJ and Music producer, Nicola Conte, on Friday, September 9th. On Tuesday September 13th, we celebrate four years of El Tuesday with the international Latin Festival Event opening: Bachata me Mucho. Expect more than 30 Latin and Bachata international social dancers to be at UNICO and we of course still have our free flow of mojitos from 7.30pm to 8.30pm, followed by buy two get one free specials
Friday, September 16 will be our big one as we we have the exclusive first performance in China by Joe Bataan. This guy is huge, he is the creator and king of the Latin Soul movement. In addition he’s definitely one of the spiritual father of UNICO music spirit. We will close the anniversary on Saturday, September 17 with a special edition of electropical with Amazoonia - our venue turns into Amazon Forrest filled with Humanimals and other performers.
Taking it back to the beginning, why did you Unico start? Was there one original idea that sparked it off and how did you fine-tune the concept for the opening?
The whole idea of UNICO started from the collaboration of Marcello Joulia, of NACO (French Argentinian Architecture Firm) and the Serial French entrepreneur Olivier Chouvet, from Super China Group.
Marcello Joulia started UNICO's adventure in Paris with a 20 seat Argentinian boutique steakhouse, followed by a larger version in Buenos Aires including a nice cocktail bar. For UNICO Shanghai, the initial idea was to bring the Latin Soul and Argentinian touch to the prestigious space of Three On The Bund, with a Restaurant and upscale lounge blending great food, Latin drink spririt and a true artistic direction. . Marcello and Olivier decided to start the project inviting two Michelin Star Argentinian Chef Mauro Colagreco with his Latin and Mediterranean cuisine.
The concept fine tuning for Marcello and Olivier was to really find the right individuals such as Chef Mauro, Hektor Monroy the venue Mixologist or Amar Karbouche, the music director at the time of the opening. It was a great mix of talent that made the success of Unico; a real team spirit.
What have been some of the biggest challenges in operating in Shanghai?
Shanghai is a city constantly evolving and growing at a faster pace than any other city in the world, it is then very important to innovate. UNICO means 'unique' in Spanish and the goal was to bring something singular and inimitable to the city, a Latin upscale experience, which blend South American DNA with the prestige of the Bund.
It is a constant challenge to find the right people for the job and a daily one to find the best products. Another substantial challenge was to build a unique music identity and sticking to it wasn’t easy. Indeed we brought very specific artist, not too mainstream and from very eclectic music backgrounds. We are music lovers at UNICO and the team can be proud of the various great artists whom hve visited us! By the way make sure you check out Nicola Conte and Joe Bataan on Friday, September 16.
What have been some of the unique benefits that Shanghai provides for Unico compared to other cities around the world?
Well Shanghai has that unique vibe and singular energy - it never stops! This brings a flow of great events and like-minded great people. We definitely benefit from such energy. In addition the new Shanghainese generation is looking for something more genuine and less mainstream, we are glad that UNICO can offer it in terms of food, drinks and music. We try making Unico as honest and accessible as possible.
The Bund is also that great avenue, looking from a glorious international past and to the future that symbolize Pudong and its Skyline. Three On the Bund is that prestigious podium for UNICO, a building filled with history with the highest standard of F&B.
What were some crisis moment you went through with Unico that you can laugh about now?
We luckily never really had a crisis yet, however plenty of big challenges! One of the common one is the effort put in the booking of A-list artists such as ?uestlove, Dee Dee Bridgewater or Nile Rodgers; each is always very stressful until the last minute and then turns into a great performance evening.
One moment I can however remember was that evening where three guys, dressed up in makeup ike the rock band KISS, climbed on the stage from nowhere with a fake guitar and started to 'perform.' It was actually a bet for a stag party and ended up being very fun for our guests. Another big challenge was the opening of the Louis Vuitton pop-up lounge created in 2014 by Unico .
How is Unico looking post-renovation? What were some of the changes you made?
Well there are no major changes in the initial design from Marcello Joulia, as we were only closed for one month since we needed to fully renovate our kitchen and backstage area. Our venue design remains the same in terms of guest experience but we needed to fine tune some aspect for the launch of our new concept restaurant, and we still have a lot to do before its opening in a few months.
What are Unico’s future plans?
We are very happy to announce that UNICO is expanding north and we are opening in Sanlintun in Beijing before the end of this year. This new concept features both a gastro lounge and a fantastic rooftop. It is in line with UNICO’s DNA and the fact that every UNICO is well 'unique' by definition! One of the great addition is a fantastic sky lounge terrace venue called 'THE ROOF by UNICO,' we are making its soft opening at the end of August.
In addition, our four great years of collaboration with two Michelin Star chef, Mauro Colagreco came to an end, and we are working on our new restaurant concept in Shanghai that I think you might have heard about. I can’t say more for the moment but we might have the chance to work again with an exceptional chef and it should be a brand new concept, more casual and will perfectly fit UNICO spirit and festive atmosphere
Is there anything you would like to add?
Yes I would like to deeply thank our Shanghai customers for their loyalty after four years, together with all the people who have been part of UNICO since it opening. To our team, all the artist from Shanghai and the rest of the world, we have a lot to look forward to in the coming months with great ongoing projects in both Shanghai and Beijing!
Sep 9, 13, 16 and 17, 10pm, free entry (Sep 9 and 13) and RMB100 (Sep 16, Sep 17 for guys). Unico Shanghai, see event listings.
0 User Comments