2018-05-30

By Betty Richardson

Two exciting new openings come courtesy of Camden Hauge, who brought us EGG, Shanghai Supperclub, Feast and SIP Festivals. She’s taking on two altogether more boozy concepts that are both set to open mid-March: Bitter, a café by day and aperitif bar by night, and Bird, a wine bar that serves small plates driven by local ingredients.

The two new concepts are still in soft opening, but a preliminary visit yielded excellent beetroot-infused Australianos (Down-Under’s answer to the Negroni) by co-partner Warren Pang, also founder of lauded Beijing cocktail bar Janes + Hooch, and a host of interesting low intervention wines.

Just a stone’s throw from there, a new sultry cocktail bar has opened up: Madara. Look for a discreet black door entrance on the street level, which gives way to a dramatic but cozy interior within. The bar also just happens to host one of our favorite Japanese mixologists, Munenori Harada, three nights a week. The other four he’s at veteran cocktail bar Avenue Joffre, which is also well-worth seeking out for superior tipples.

Shanghai's keen beans have been lining up in droves for minimalist Kyoto coffee export % Arabica. Having first made the leap to Hong Kong in 2013, where the company rather candidly confesses on their blog that business was tough at first, they have now expanded to 14 international locations. Their first Shanghai branch is on Wukang Lu in the former French Concession, where you can also find a line of approximately 4 million people.

We’ve got some excellent news for you this month, Chef Bina Yu, who formerly ran Korean BBQ Chi-Q, is embarking on a new project with pastry chef Kim Melvin and the team from Commune Social. Details are sparse, but we hear the restaurant will focus on communal dining experiences and will be located in Jing’an, due to open mid-March or thereabouts.

On a sad note: Willy Trullas Moreno’s iconic Spanish restaurant elEfante has closed after five memorable years of service. The space will now become a new concept by the Furu Group, which owns Sushi Oyama upstairs. Fans of the el Willy group can still find its cooking at their flagship eponymous Bund restaurant, El Willy, and at tapas bar Tomatito in Jing’an.

There is a silver lining, however, elEfante's head chef Carlos Sotomayor will be staying on with the venue, and will help the Furu Group develop the space into a contemporary Peruvian restaurant.

New Japanese restaurant Umi is finally soft open for dinner, and welcoming guests into its enigmatically slick, Bond-movie-set-in-Japan world atop Taikoo Hui Mall (also home to the enormous Starbucks Reserve Roastery.) In the kitchen is French Laundry-trained German chef Bjoern Alexander, who has compiled a menu of modern Japanese food with a creative sensibility.

To prepare for the role, Alexander spent time working at Jimbocho Den, one of Tokyo’s hardest to book restaurants, in addition to traditional tempura and ramen shops. Behind the bar, you’ll find a sake program from Elliot Faber (Hong Kong’s Rōnin, Yardbird, Sake Central) and cocktails by Raphael Holzer (formerly Yardbird, founder of Fernet Hunter.)

Chef Austin Hu has also unleashed a new Madison Kitchen, located in international supermarket Cityshop on Tianshan Lu. The new branch is set to placate his hungry fans in the Gubei suburbs who are outside the delivery zone of the Donghu Lu joint. Like the original, generous sandwiches are the key feature.

Heritage Singaporean restaurant, Song Fa, has also opened a branch in Jing’an. The restaurant specializes in bak kut teh, pork ribs that are stewed until fall-off-the-bone tender in a blend of traditional spices.

Meanwhile on Dagu Lu, what was once Cafe des Stagiaires has morphed into a beloved Beijing street booze classic: Mojito Man. Clue's in the name with what they serve.

In an interesting twist, stalwart steakhouse Roosevelt Prime has left its home in the former French Concession’s famous Taiyuan Villa. Fans of their superb 500-degree roasted steaks needn’t worry; the restaurant will have a new home in the glamorous Ruijin Intercontinental Hotel nearby.

In Hotel Land, the Bellagio's new restaurant, Lago by chef Julian Serrano has been making waves. Under Chef Jair Gudino Chavez, formerly of the 1515 West Chophouse, the MO is Italian cuisine but with a tapas philosophy, and dab of all-out luxe for good measure (it is the Bellagio, afterall.)

Like its two-Michelin Star sister restaurant in Las Vegas, think dramatically glamorous interiors that will make you feel like you're in a heist movie.

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