When Umberto Bombana set up Otto e Mezzo (8½) in Hong Kong, the gastronomic sphere went into frenzy. Michelin awarded it two stars in its first year, then another. History was made—it was the world’s first three-star restaurant outside of Europe.

Bringing his right-hand chefs, building contractor and a love for the truffle, Bombana has now come to Shanghai. As the first tenant of the new Rock Bund development, this could be where the Chinese Mainland truly embraces echelon Italian dining. Fully booked since its opening, it’s receiving an emphatic Shanghai welcome. Leaning on executive chef Alan Yu’s Shanghai experience, the menu is a fanfare of luxury ingredients, from 36-month aged bellota Iberico ham (RMB190) to Boston lobster tagliatelle (RMB190) to Oakleigh Ranch beef rib eye (RMB1,300).

For those who wish to follow Bombana’s select story, there’s a five-course degustation menu (RMB1,288 for two with wine pairings). Delicate wasabi themes flow through the masterpiece Napoleon of bluefin tuna. Balanced Parmesan and porcini gather amongst fine risotto. Heavy truffle and foie gras go head to head against perfectly succulent Wagyu Tajima tenderloin. It’s a narrative paralleling Fellini’s 1963 film, the restaurant’s namesake.

Topped by pastry chef Sohya Takahashi’s phenomenal apple tart and molecular petit fours, this is a story indeed. A chat with pasta specialist sous-chef Silvio Armanni confirms our only misgiving; a ravioli course would have added an overlooked chapter.

Is this Akelarre? No. Is it global Michelin quality cuisine served in a country not famous for it’s international-friendly produce, palate or refined service? Yes. Ranked against almost everywhere in Shanghai it’s very, very good—five stars. Against other Michelins? Almost there. Perhaps this is a discussion to be had over a tremendously well-mixed cocktail (RMB80-120) at 8½’s seductive bar.

Otto e Mezzo: 6-7/F, Mision Building, 169 Yuanmingyuan Lu
(0)20 6087-2890
www.ottoemezzobombana.com

This is my review with Cityweekend, full listing here

Last week I went to the Stampede Kart track and on my bike took on a go-kart, a Sherpa’s guy, a runner and a dude on heel-wheels.

It was a 5 lap race – who won? Pick up a copy of today’s City Weekend to find out!

This weekend is the Shanghai Alleycat. We’ve some amazing sponsors, fantastic prizes (over 150,000 of swag up for grabs) and the competition is better than ever with Red Bull flying in the North American Champion, Austin Horse to take part.

If you’re in Shanghai this weekend, you’d be silly not to get involved. There’s a huge group ride on Friday night sponsored by us and Cheers in and Shanghai Tattoo; the Alleycat and after party on Saturday with Title Sponsor Boxing Cat and Sinan Mansions; and on Sunday the trick competitions and a BBQ with meat brought by Yasmine’s Butchery, beer courtesy of The Brew’s Beer Bike and gold sprints hosted by Specialized.

It’s all free to enter. The food and drink will be cheap or free and it’s going to be huge.

All you have to do is grab a free t-shirt made by Lee, dash/cruise/swan around town, collect a wrist band from 12 checkpoints and get back to the beginning in the fastest time.

If you haven’t already: Register now

If you’ve a few red notes to spend, a penchant for chocolate and a couple spare hours then here’s suggestion.

Jump on the Metro to the end of line 7, Huamu Lu. Walk into the new mall in the Kerry Centre – hit up the massive new Baker & Spice and tuck into a whole Chocolate Strawberry cake.

Whatever you do – do not cross the road, go into the architecturally god-awful Jumeirah center and buy a RMB 100 ticket for the World Chocolate Wonderland. Inside is one of the worst events that has ever come to Shanghai (alongside the Thailand Expo Pavilion and that first gig in the new-new Mao Livehouse which got shut down by the police before it started).

The Wonderland, as rumor has it, is a chocolate theme park to rival Willy Wonka. They tout the terracotta warriors cast in chocolate, a fully recreated chocolate Bund (complete with flowing chocolate Huangpu river) and a factory where you can make your own chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate!!! What they don’t mention is how utterly unimpressive all of this is.

Set to an Alvin-Chipmunk style jingle on permanent loop, in what feels like a skyscraper still under construction, with a handful of crafty mascots repeatedly shoved in your face. You’ll wander through a series of mildly refrigerated spaces that smell of chocolate.

Behind the glass there’ll be a series of ‘things’ made of out chocolate. Guides in winter coats and Jester hats will explain the marvels of how liquid chocolate can take any shape when solid and how white chocolate and brown chocolate can be used to make white or brown items. I guarantee you’ll raise an eyebrow at a couple, go ‘meh’ at a few and instantly forget the rest.

The Terracotta Warriors are amongst the ever-so-slightly impressive. They look like rows of angry Chinese Easter bunnies.

Unfortunately by this stage you’ve already paraded past a whole display dedicated to a mediocre galleon… and the laughable Lujiazui scene.

Elsewhere there are a couple of Transformers, a Lenovo, a Vespa, a wall of Buddha, the world’s most expensive chocolate and to keep the locals happy – some Louis Vuitton. All of which is punctuated by heavily branded displays, some chef making a cake and human-size blocks of chocolate dancing around.

Before you know it, the tiny free chocolate has been munched, you’ve marvelled at the DIY factory and are on the ‘street’ of chocolatier gift shops. Was that an actual wedding going on back there? Forget it. Get out before the music and the mascots seep into your soul and you actually try to eat the one of the massive chess pieces at the entranceway. Be warned, they’re made of plastic and probably covered in infant drool.

We got together with the Englishman in the M1NT kitchen to ask a few questions about his menu. Grant Brunsden started in London’s Tsunami and with a resume that’s seen him work in Nobu, St John and Ai New Delhi, he has a globe-spanning if not diverse repertoire. When posed with “How do you keep it together, current and crowd pleasing all at the same time?” Grant gave us his pointers:

Freshness is about variety:

“If you’re sharing it’s more fun. You can have a steak next to a bowl of dumplings, as long as they’re both good!” With a menu that ranges from Rangers Valley black Angus beef served with a wasabi dipping sauce (pictured above left), to Cantonese shrimp and prawn wonton soup (pictured above right), Brunsden is open to the Chinese approach to group eating. “Many of our diners like to mix it up. These are big portions, and up here in the right atmosphere the fun begins.”

Good food means trial and error

“We’re always playing with new ideas in the kitchen. If something doesn’t work for people we cut it from the menu. Simple.” The result is refined variety, each dish a culinary iteration. Take the black cod (pictured above) for example: starting with Brunsden’s perfected dashi base, the fish is covered in a miso marinade and wrapped in bamboo. Three days later it’s roasted and served unwrapped. It’s one of their best sellers. Robust yet succulent and paired with the complex miso tones, it oozes experience.

Find good produce

“Be ready to work with what the ship brings in. I’m eating strawberries in the middle of winter and so seasonality becomes finding a blend of good local and international produce”. At M1NT, sourcing is a key to maintaining a current menu. Their sea bass and bream and even foie gras are sourced locally, and increasingly too are the subtleties that make a superior dish. “Three years ago there were no pea shoots in China; now we use them every day,” Brunsden tells us. As a garnish to the rolled octopus terrine (pictured above) they add a distinct yet complementary layer.

Brunsden’s approach demonstrates the confidence of someone who’s seen it all. “At the end of the day, if the restaurant is full, people are happy and having fun, then our menu considerations have done their job.”

Oozing luxury, this recently renovated spot has the five-star ambiance and high-end service of a seriously swanky Italian restaurant. Issimo is still working on one thing: phenomenal food. Perched over Nanjing Dong Lu, with more designer furniture than Design Republic and recently helmed by Michelin-star chef Stefano Pace, our expectations were perhaps too high.

This is because Issimo could be in the gastronomic-epicenter of any city in the world. It’s a step out of Shanghai, and to prove it, you’re led to your table past bowls of lush vine-ripened tomatoes and bell peppers. Quaffing a glass of Riesling (RMB88), watching Pace in the open kitchen, you’re gearing up for the big league.
Sourcing is clearly on point with supreme antipasto cuts (RMB98) and salmon carpaccio (RMB128). The mozzarella burrata atop the cherry tomato and basil bruschetta (RMB68) is to die for. Sitting with a generous plate of meaty yet succulent calamari and king prawns (RMB68), the Pudong skyline feels a thousand miles away.

Italian food is, alas, not all just about the produce. In the overly salty pumpkin ravioli (RMB108) and too-stringy spatchcock spring chicken (RMB148) the sheen fades. Those should have been easy. Easier still should have been the offerings from the wood-fired oven. We must admit a certain penchant for pizza temples, and the thought of Issimo’s copper-lined beauty had us rather excited. Unfortunately, the day’s doughy prosciutto pizza (RMB158) seemed to be worshipping a Ciabatta god.

Sometimes it’s the case with great but not perfect restaurants that appetizers outweigh the mains. The next time we’re here it’ll be to nibble on calamari and burrata while knocking back a cold pint of Stella (RMB58).

2/F, 931 Nanjing Xi Lu 南京西路931号2楼 Tel: 3302-4997

Russian gastronomic progression can be marked by the fanciness of the token salad arranged on each plate. It’s a traditional, earthly cuisine that needs no modernization. So while Matrёshka’s plates come decorated like a bad Kandinsky, the food is of a classic quality that will make even the most homesick Russian feel at ease. It’s a step ahead of Red Square, the other Russian spot that opened recently in the 1933 complex.

Aside from a bottle of Beluga vodka (RMB2,350) it’s hard to spend money at this place. Virtually everything is less than RMB50 with the whole Eastern Bloc covered by an almost overwhelming menu.

Their star appetizer is a plate of smoked salmon blini (RMB27). They present an odd juxtaposition of sweet pancakes and salty fish and are curious if not moreish. More pleasing is a huge plate of marinated mushrooms (RMB20), cucumbers (RMB15) and an extraordinarily tasty creamed Parmesan-stuffed tomato(RMB25).

The classic salad Oliver (RMB30) and borsht soup (RMB38) are no sweat for what is clearly an accomplished chef in the kitchen. With authentic ingredients in abundance, they both make Red Square’s taste like poor Chinese relations.

Mains are heavily meat based, served alongside potato ‘garnishes’ such as spicy wedges or potato pancakes (an extra RMB15). Ranging from cabbage-wrapped meat golubtsy (RMB35) to Siberian pork and beef pelmeni dumplings (RMB38), the closest you’ll get to a vegetable is the meat-stuffed peppers (RMB35).

They’re all excellent and incredibly filling but take the waiter’s winter recommendation and get a plate of captains’ meat (RMB38) for the road. It’s a pork chop loaded with cheese and layered with potato. Finish all this and they’ll be rolling you down the stairs like a Matrëshka doll.

Matrëshka: 165 Shimen Er Lu, 石门二路165号

by triplefivedrew

This is Gracie. She’d like to know what you’re looking at. She’s 35mm and 1.8f away – hanging out with the bokeh.

Thanks to a yorkshire Christmas, I just entered the world of prime lenses – and like racing flats and fixed gear – the distillation of functions is pristine clarity.

In the past couple months I’ve flown across london half a dozen times. It never fails to impress. There’s something about crossing the Kent coast, seeing a hundred miles of green and then, swinging into view, begins the world’s greatest city.

Landing into Heathrow, if you’re lucky, you’ll be stuck in a holding pattern and be circling around east London. Sit on the right hand side, that’s where all the action is as the plan banks clockwise over the city. It must be a hundred times that I’ve thought about slipping out the back door with a parachute and landing on Victoria Park.

Here’s where the Olympic Village has emerged. From a bunch of gas towers, train tracks and one significant hockey pitch has grown a rather large sporting neighbourhood. At it’s centre – the relatively humble (The World’s most eco-friendly) main stadium stands out poised to be London’s next landmark.

Spotting London’s last landmark, Renzo Piano’s The Shard, teetering above the City on the other side of the Thames normally indicates approach for landing. As the plane makes a lazy descent across the middle of town you’ll be treated to Canary Wharf, the South Bank, Piccadilly Circus, Westminster, Pimlico, Hyde Park and Hammersmith.

Assuming, that is, you’re sat on the right. Otherwise, well, enjoy a bit of Brixton and maybe look out for deer in Richmond Park.

This staunch Russian restaurant is the latest challenger to 1933’s singular ability to repel diners. But where huge Chinese ballrooms and racing car themes have failed, Red Square actually manages to pull off a tasty, affordable and authentic menu.

With globally recognised Russian and Ukrainian fare from borscht (RMB18) to potato pancakes (RMB20), the menu has plenty to choose from. Each comes as a small dish so there’s good reason to explore the lesser known items, especially if you can decipher the slightly obscure descriptions. The salad Olivier (RMB28) is a solid rendition of the mound of vegetables and mayonnaise otherwise known as a Russian salad. Of the soups, the less common rice Kharcho (RMB28) stands out; its hearty base with tender chunks of lamb make it perfect for winter.

Golubtsy (RMB32), meat and rice wrapped in cabbage, is a mainstay of Russian comfort food. Here though, they are a victim of Chinese produce. They’re a little bland and need lashings of Smetana sauce. The slightly dry chicken Kyev (RMB38) runs into similar problems.

Red Square also caters for the high-flyers. Their red caviar bliny (RMB68) are the real Russian deal, large pancakes served with incredibly salty caviar. They’re definitely an acquired taste; Western canapé renditions are a much lighter affair and we can see why.

In the evenings there are live performances, so expect Cossack dancing and Russian techno—assuming they have enough people fill their huge dining room. 1933 may be too far from the former French Concession to be trendy and a little too try-hard to win over discerning Bund diners, but it’s worth bucking the trend and heading over if you’re looking for an eastern-European experience.

Red Square: Rm. 308, 1/F, 1933 Building, 10 Shajing Lu 沙径路10号1933老场坊1号楼308室