Gossip fodder: where to eat and drink in March
Your one-stop shop for barely substantiated news on eating and drinking in Shanghai.
Welcome to Gossip Fodder, where we babble on about new restaurants, cafes, and bars in Shanghai. This month: Bespoke, The Pine at Rui Jin, % Arabica, and Beer Plus Gubei.
EAT
The Pine at Rui Jin
The Pine is a new restaurant by the people behind Light & Salt. It’s housed in the stately Ruijin hotel, and you dine while overlooking the ground’s classical Chinese gardens. Helming the kitchen is Johnston Teo, formerly of Odette and Iggy’s in Singapore, and he’s cooking seasonal Chinese dishes with Western techniques. It’s only set menus for lunch and dinner for now, and they have a sommelier service for matching tea with your food.
Building 11, Rui Jin Hotel, 118 Ruijin Er Road / 瑞金二路118号瑞金宾馆内11号楼
Bespoke
Bespoke is a restaurant that likes individual touches. Everyone gets a different complimentary drink when they’re seated, which are prepared table-side. The host (or gentleman, as the hotel points out; no word on what happens if the lady pays) gets the menu with prices, while your guest doesn’t see any numbers. The five- or eight-course degustation menu changes twice a week, and doing the cooking is Cesar A. Perez de Anda, formerly of Noma in Copenhagen, Aska in New York, and most recently Elfante in Shanghai. Go with your company expense account and seal that multi-billion yuan deal.
The St. Regis Shanghai Jingan, 1008 West Beijing Road / 上海静安瑞吉酒店，北京西路1008号
DRINK
Cafe % Arabica has been in Shanghai for less than a month, but they’re already in the news for all the wrong reasons. The Japanese coffee chain opened on Wukang Road just before Chinese New Year, but was shut down five hours after opening for having no licence. That’s all been cleared up now, and they brew their coffee from beans sourced directly from their origins. Be prepared to wait in line.
No.112, 1/F, Ferguson Lane, 374 Wukang Road / 武康路374号武康庭商场1F-112
Beer Plus has opened a second location in the wilderness that is Gubei — OK, we jest. Located near Carrefour, they have over 800 bottled beers from around the world, which you can drink there or take away, as well as food like oysters, pizzas, and steaks. They also have a brewing system where you can learn how to brew your own beer.
17 South Shuicheng Road / 水城南路17号
