Jason Oakley to head Coquille and Scarpetta

Well this is some pretty juicy gossip, two of Shanghai's favorite restaurants, Coquille and Scarpetta are getting a new head chef – Jason Oakley (pictured above), formerly head chef of the Mandarin Oriental's high-end steakhouse Fifty 8° Grill, who will be replacing chef Anna Bautista.

Many of Shanghai's biggest culinary voices have been singing Oakley's praises for a while now, who formerly worked as chef de cuisine at David Laris' former restaurant Laris, and under Thomas Keller at San Francisco's The French Laundry.

Proprietor John Liu tells us Oakley will be bringing in new dishes of his own design at both Scarpetta and Coquille. But don't worry, they're keeping the old favorites too – we hope our favorite bone marrow orrechiette (below, at Scarpetta) and black pepper noodles with Dungeoness crab (at Coquille) will make the cut.

But what of Anna Bautista? She's staying in Shanghai, and rumor has it she'll be opening up her own venture in the former French Concession in early autumn.

ABOVE: The outer dining room at Coquille.

In the meantime, chef Jason Oakley, who has also been made a partner at Coquille and Scarpetta, will officially begin his tenure at the restaurants starting August 1.

// Scarpetta, 33 Mengzi Lu, by Xujiahui Lu

// Coquille, 29-31 Mengzi Lu, by Xujiahui Lu

// Fifty 8° Grill, 111 Pudong Nan Lu, by Yincheng Zhong Lu

To see Shanghai Girl Eats' descriptions of Coquille and Scarpetta's best dishes, click "Read more" below.