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上 How 海 Shanghai || became 中走 China’s 心向 之中 路国 Foreign 西 餐 Dining Hub
To Asia’s many discerning foreign foodies, when it comes to authentic French or Italian fare, Hong Kong might traditionally have taken the cake. Yet, an old flame has reclaimed its former reputation as a foreign food centre: Shanghai.
by Grace Bown
对于亚洲的西餐食客来说，香港提供的法国菜或意大 利菜是最正宗的。但是，一个曾经的西餐中心正在找 回其过往的荣耀，那就是上海。
Regarded as the ‘Paris of the East’ since the 1920’s — in a time of international residential concessions, settlements and other cultural crossroads amid a trade boom — it is little wonder that foreign influences from its architecture to its cuisine would form part of Shanghai’s identity. With this heritage, along with the government’s strong foreign investment incentives in ‘Special Economic Zones’ (SEZs) throughout the 1990’s, it was only a matter of time before the business-minded city would once again be celebrated as China’s international culinary capital. Since then, the colourful city of over 23 million has increasingly attracted top foreign chefs, restauranteurs and food lovers alike, arguably beginning with the opening of Shanghai’s first independent foreign restaurant in 1999: M on the Bund. “It was clear to me
by the mid-90s that Shanghai was ready for a high standard independent western restaurant — both the westerners and the Shanghai people,” said its Founder, Michelle Garnaut. “The city was building, the people were open to new experiences — you could see where it was going. It was an exciting city then, and it’s an exciting city now.” On the 7th floor of No.5 on the Bund, in what was once the Nissin Shipping Building, a Japanese shipping concern, ‘M’ and its accompanying Glamour Bar on the 6th floor represent old-world sophistication, within one of Asia’s most modern, breakneck-speed metropolises… Here, Patrons can tuck into signature European dishes such as bouillabaisse, caviar pancakes, suckling pig and M’s famous pavlova. Tables are sometimes so popular
that they might sometimes require a week’s booking — and don’t be surprised if a famous face is enjoying a home-made ice cream at the next table… It was not long before other independent foreign restaurants sprung up across Shanghai, forcing international restaurants in hotels to raise their game too. Issimo restaurant within the quirky, contemporary Jia Hotel in downtown Shanghai is a savoury example of foreign fare that is not only delicious, but undeniably authentic. Your prosciutto wood-fired pizza or truffle tagliatelle could well be served to the discerning locals of Tuscany, instead of smack-bang in the middle of China’s biggest city.
M-on-the-Bund Bouillabaisse