The Shanghai Scoop is a monthly column dedicated to the latest food and drink news in Shanghai.
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A number of new openings around town, some more recent than others, as well as a new meal plan service and new brunches. Tomatito celebrates 12 years. And a tally of closures, including Michelin two-star 102 House.
New Restaurants in Shanghai
Ignis Table – Modern Chinese Chef’s Table
Ignis Table is a newly opened chef’s table restaurant in Zhonghua Mansion on Renmin Lu, led by Chef Julien Xu. With two decades of culinary experience, including at Ultraviolet, and most recently Rêver in Guangzhou, Xu also holds a One Knife designation from The Best Chef Awards.
The cuisine at Ignis Table is modern Chinese at its core, with a focus on premium seafood. The set menu is ¥1,880 plus 10% service charge.
BaDu – Sourdoughs & Sandwiches
Global eatery and gin bar Juniper on Suzhou Creek has just opened a sister concept next door: BaDu, a bakery and sandwich shop building its identity around freshly made sourdough. The menu features whole loaves, open-faced sandwiches, cakes by the slice, and coffee.
TonAri – French-Chinese Fusion Wine Bar
TonAri is a French-Chinese fusion restaurant and wine bar on the quieter end of Wuding Lu in Jing’an. It’s founded by Zita Hu, a wine importer with an affinity for natural and organic wines.
The spot, low-key and unpretentious, is cozy with pockets of intimate seating for a casual night of wine sipping. Dishes like scallion oil spaghetti with caviar and chili oil turbot work in their favor. Wines by the glass from ¥69.
KLAZ – Western, Omakase, Teppanyaki
KLAZ, a multi-concept restaurant and bar backed by the MUSE Group, opened in March at Xintiandi Galleria mall. It’s a huge space with a lot going on — a lounge serving a Western menu alongside drinks and shisha, plus omakase and private rooms for teppanyaki and customized menus.
Agarwood – French Fusion
Nearby at Lu One mall is Agarwood, a casual French fusion restaurant backed by chefs with Michelin pedigree.
Kettle Masters – Next Level Chips
Kettle Masters, a hand-crafted kettle chip brand founded in 2021, now has a store in Qingpu where you can watch the process and season your own bag.
Unlike your standard bag of Lay’s, kettle chips are cooked in small batches, and are thicker and crunchier. Kettle Masters takes it a step further, cutting theirs extra thick and cooking them in beef tallow — it’s almost like a cross between a chip and a cracker.
Flavors include Cheese & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, Sichuan Spicy, Xinjiang BBQ, and Scallion Pancake. Bags are ¥25 for 100g. Also available via WeChat store: KettleMastersKettleChips.
New Brunch / Lunch
VICE Shanghai launches lunch
VICE has just launched lunch, serving seven days a week with dishes like salmon superbowls, steak skewers with wild rice, and a green barley risotto, alongside dinner favorites such as beef noodles and leche de tigre-marinated salmon. Weekend brunch drops mid-August, featuring blackboard specials.
Nono’s Ristorante does daily brunch
Nono’s has also launched a daily brunch, opening seven days a week with Italian-Chinese dishes like char siu scrambled eggs on toast, truffle ham and egg pizza, roast chicken with gnocchi fritters, seafood towers, and more.
New Meal Plan Service NUVI
Recently launched is NUVI, a custom meal plan service that tailors their programs with the help of a full-time nutritionist. This is celebrity-level customization designed for performance enhancement, dietary restrictions, health issues, or lifestyle changes. It’s on the premium end; ¥165 for one meal a day; ¥390 for three meals and two snacks a day.
The food, as far as I could gather from the one meal, is pretty tasty; something I’d eat to reset my stomach after hitting up new restaurants. Calories and nutritional value are calculated in-house, but the best part, I think, is the complimentary phone consultation with their in-house nutritionist. Scan the QR code for info.
Around Town
Tomatito Turns 12
“Sexy tapas” Spanish restaurant Tomatito is celebrating 12 years in Shanghai with a grand ol’ party on July 25. Live guitar music during the day, and DJ Toni Ventura on decks during the evening. All selected tapas and drinks are ¥12 each, all day long.
Noodle Uncle Pop-Up Bak Chor Mee
Joey Cheong aka Noodle Uncle returns with a pop-up at Shaker Logic, The Roof in Xintiandi. The noodle in question is Bak Chor Mee, the beloved Singaporean noodle topped with minced meat, pork meatballs, and crispy pork lard. The pop-up will run for a couple of months, serving from Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 2pm at 458 Madang Lu. WeChat Noodle-Uncle for reservations.
Texas Roadhouse is opening a branch in iapm.
French fine dining restaurant 16ème opens along Suzhou Creek. Set menu priced at ¥688 for soft opening.
Restaurants Newa, RAC, and Mozzarella e Vino have opened locations at West Bund.
Restaurant Closures in Shanghai
Yak & Yeti Himalayan Taste on Xiangyang Bei Lu is closing; last day July 26. The restaurant aims to relocate and reopen with a twist on the concept sometime in the fall. They’ll have a weekend closing party, DJ sets on July 24 and 25 from 2pm, July 26 from 12pm, for one last hurrah.
Modern Chinese restaurant 102 House, a Michelin two-star and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant on the Bund closed on July 8, citing end of lease.
Genesis Restaurant, the Korean restaurant project backed by the automobile brand of the same name, closed its Xintiandi location early June.
Soif, the wine bar that kickstarted the natural wine craze, closed quietly earlier this July. Word is there’s already a new tenant ready to move in.
Award-winning cocktail bar EPIC did a curtain call on June 7 after 12 years on Gaoyou Lu due to lease reasons.
Feral Bahn Mi closed its Jing’an location due to unforeseen circumstances, but aims to reopen on Yuyuan Road in August. The new store will be bigger and will also serve noodle dishes and a few other simple sides.
This happened a while ago: Ragu in Jing’an closed, well, more like moved. The Italian restaurant is now operating in a bigger space by Suzhou Creek.
Ice creamery Bleuska in Xintiandi also closed, one of many gelato cullings this year.
Swiss Butchery closed its Wulumuqi Lu store after almost a decade. Fear not: the premium butcher continues to operate online, delivering from their Yinting Lu prep kitchen. They also plan to open a physical location in Pudong.
