Modern Chinese: Local Ingredients, Tradition Reimagined at Collectif

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Collectif° is a modern Chinese restaurant in Shanghai that serves a prix fixe menu highlighting local ingredients through reinterpretations of traditional Chinese dishes. It’s a project led by Malik Xie and Shane Wang, two very talented young chefs, and is backed by The Flask Group.

About Chefs Malik & Shane

Chefs Malik Xie and Shane Wang of modern Chinese restaurant at Collectif, Shanghai. — Malik & Shane

Malik Xie hails from Taiwan and spent time at Restaurant André (Singapore) and RAW (Taipei) before working at Bloom as chef de cuisine. Shane Wang, from Pinghu, Zhejiang, studied at Cordon Bleu, Paris after she graduated from RMIT, Australia, and worked at Jean Georges, Seul & Seul, and INUA (Japan). Both chefs have been with The Flask Group for a while now, but Collectif is their magnum opus.

Modern Chinese food at Collectif, a restaurant in Shanghai that highlights Chinese ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence

As Shane put it, “I’ve traveled to so many countries, and found that there are so many great Chinese ingredients that people don’t know about.”

The Space

It’s located in M+ Plaza in Jing’an, across from KRU on Tap. There’s a couple of round tables and a bar counter with about 10 seats facing the open kitchen. There’s also an upstairs bar, which is still being worked on.

The Spring Menu

The menu changes every season, and is inspired by the “二十四节气表”, the 24 solar terms, an agricultural calendar of sorts created by farmers in ancient China that’s based on the sun’s position in the zodiac. This season’s menu is the Spring Equinox, priced at ¥648 per person; wine pairing ¥268 for three glasses, ¥388 for five. It’s about 15 courses, including the amuse bouche and petit fours. The spring menu will run until mid-May.

In Summary

Overall impressions are that it is impressive and very considered. There’s a lot of heart in the creation of the menu, and the intent of spotlighting ingredients is apparent but not superfluous. Still, some small adjustments could be made, which I assume are underway.