Christmas. check. new year. check. Chinese New Year. check. Borders have reopened. check. Catch COVID. check.
Raise your hand if you don’t have COVID.
Cool, no one raised their hand.
What we are saying is that it was a strange time. But now it’s behind us. And surprisingly, some new openings are on the way.
Some have been in the works for some time. Others that appeared on our radar so quickly must have been built by Line 7 construction workers.
(Anyone remember building a new station next to iapm mall in 2 days?!)
Anyway, back to F&B. Now that you’ve just scored your monthly gossip hit, it’s time to hit those veins.
Image by Sophie Steiner / It is
Suntory: A world-famous brand with nearly 125 years of history and 100 years of whiskey distilling history. Japan’s first single malt whiskey distillery. Japan’s first vineyard owner. And most notably, the highball, synonymous with drinkers’ drink.
And now Suntory has opened its first flagship store. Fine dining, cocktail lounge, whiskey bar and terrace all in one. It’s on the 5th and 6th floors here in Shanghai. CITIC Pacific Plaza At Eneiro.
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It’s all whiskey sanctuary. Executive Chef Junichi Honda – Studied under the master of Japanese cuisine, Tetsujin Dojo Rokusaburo – Top quality sashimi, bubbly sukiyaki hot pot filled with wagyu beef, open-fire grilling of the rarest imported seafood, carefully selected to offer the finest menus Sushi rolls filled with slabs of cooked fish.plus killer Cocktails and wine list found in most wine bars around town.
before taean tablewas Stiller – A more “ordinary and familiar” space that performed well in Shanghai from 2008 to 2013. After bringing back the concept again in 2021, this time in Guangzhou, the Stefan Stiller team decided Shanghai needed one too. It’s a reincarnation of the original, but this time it’s a new world. The food is modern European with a more casual presentation than Tai’an Table. Stay tuned for the soft opening next month.
Boss Esben Holmboe Bang One of three Michelin-starred restaurant Maæmo, based in Oslo, opens its first restaurant abroad, here in Shanghai. green & safe Spot on Dongping Lu.is going to be called EHBs – After his initials, of course. He also runs several restaurants and bars in Oslo, including Mon Oncle, The Vandelay and The Conservatory. He expects a strong farm-to-table atmosphere, an excellent wine list and a flair for Nordic flair.
Image via Dianping
Joy & Sam Founder of ART021 Art Fair, Zhou Dawei’s new grocery store / life experience shop / multi-restaurant venue / wine cellar / charcoal grill / nightclub – all in one location in the Hengshan 8 complex.
Wow. what? The space is huge, over 2,000 square meters spread across multiple floors. First, there’s a grocery store, coffee shop, and bakery with over 3,000 items. Each dish in this level can also be purchased in packages to take home and prepare later.
The B1 level has a wine cellar, a charcoal station complete with Josper oven, and a deli counter.there is also Gaboshev’s Anarkia Our brand partnership with Madame Ching offers playful twists on Asian street food paired with natural and Chinese wines, shochu and highballs.
and a Thai restaurant.
and a dance club.
Do not do that.
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Also, leaping from Beijing to Shanghai, Bottega – Neapolitan pizza and pasta joint – landed in an old shop beef & liberty spot of Quar Center At Xiangyang Lu. Sleek, trendy, filled with nightly live music, and ready to make a name for itself in Shanghai.
The menu shows 21 – yes, TWENTY-ONE! – pizza options, plus noodles, antipasti, and desserts sprinkled in. Oh yeah, we have wine. There are many wines. And all the spritz and aperitifs you need to convince yourself that you’re actually drinking in Naples by the end of the night.
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Second restaurant concept, coco crew, by the same group, just in front of Bottega and adjacent to the street. As the name suggests, this spot is all about detox and retox…with coconut.
Think healthy coconut water-based bbee by day and creative coconut cocktails by night. Previously brought to you by the famous Peter he was one of Beijing’s best cocktail bars. black mothThey import coconuts from all over the world and bring in guest DJs. Soft opening soon.
hoarding found shankang lee A new concept by the Turkish Cuisine team of PashaEnjoy casual, Mediterranean-inspired dining with an emphasis on mezze-style brunch until midnight.
Dishes range from RMB 38 to RMB 158 and wine from RMB 128 to RMB 258 per bottle. The name is still a closely guarded secret (evil eye talisman clue?!), but expect to find out around the time of the scheduled soft opening at the end of February.
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Everyone’s favorite Vulcan Burger bodega, yugo grill, is expanding again. It’s a testament to the ever-growing fan base not satisfied with Balkan feasts and wild Serbian-style parties.
take over Delmuse In the adjacent space, crews demolished a dividing wall to more than double the size of the original venue, adding a DJ stage, large bar, booths, high-top seating and a dance floor.
The new space’s soft opening was on New Year’s Eve with live DJs, free-flow drinks, and a party to welcome the New Year and the new Hugo era.
Image courtesy of Lin Long
From Beijing, 30-seater Linlon is set to open with Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund March 12thguided by Executive Chef Jason LiuIt’s a modern Chinese fusion that combines flavors from around the Middle Kingdom with an emphasis on using unusual ingredients.
Chef Jason is in the process of overhauling the entire menu offered in Beijing to bring it to Shanghai. So 90% new dishes are included and the repeater will be able to enjoy completely different experiences in the two cities.
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Omills Just opened that fifth – yep, you read that right. Fifth – position in Shanghai, known as O’Mills Toast Yanping Road near Wuding Road. It’s slowly expanding its health food empire, with each spot filling more and more sourdough-based breads and pastries.
Image courtesy of Papito Pancakes
another multiplication chain, daddy pancake opened its third store on Changle Road near Wulumuqi Road on February 1, continuing to spread its love of crepes in all its forms to new neighborhoods in Shanghai.
New sign on top of old sign camel The Himalayan restaurant space called Yak & Yeti – Our curiosity is piqued.
Da Vittorio Group has opened a restaurant in a quaint Shanghai villa. villa – very close Villa Le BecBased on the owner, expect an even more upscale (think pricier) menu with a decidedly Italian leaning.But don’t plan on getting caught from Victor Also da vittorio new wave Signature; it’s a completely different concept and team.
As the cookies crumble, there have also been some closures this month. Most notably, of cotton Anting Lu said goodbye to Shanghai on December 31st.
Lease issues with landlords, you know how the story goes.
Cotton’s on Xinhua Lu will continue to operate and maintain its banner as usual.
casual cocktail bar 521SH Also closed the door. Neigo and all Windows place.
Hey, Windows. Now there is a blast from the past that is very nasty. If that wall could talk…
Any tips? Feel free to email us any good news at sophiesteiner@thatsmags.com.
Read more Shanghai food and drink gossip.
[Cover image via tricycle.org]