Shanghai

[Shanghai] Perch by The Nest – An Exquisite Evening in An Urban Oasis

Just as Shanghai is bemoaning the sudden departure of Botanik, The Nest group has taken over the newly vacated rooftop haven with a new concept, aptly named Perch by The Nest. Mr. Freddy Raoult has brought an entirely different sort of cooking to this familiar setting, showing off a creative streak previously unseen at the group’s other operations. A distinct contrast from Botanik’s knowledge-laden dining experience, an evening at Perch is, more than anything else, just a very good time.

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Shanghai

[Shanghai] Taian Table – An Insider’s Perspective

There is no other restaurant in the world that I know as intimately as Taian Table. From that first encounter in 2016, two months into the restaurant’s life, through dozens of visits stretching over the next three years, Taian Table steadily grew to be my favorite restaurant in Shanghai. And if the past, entirely unexpected 17 months of working with the team have changed my view in any way, it is only to offer new perspectives and insights into this restaurant that I have loved from the first.

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Shanghai

[Shanghai] Table Black – The Most Underrated Chef’s Table in Shanghai

Tasting menus can come across as forced and hollow when a chef doesn’t have much to say. At Table Black, Mr. Blake Thornley seems to have binders of stuff just waiting to be said, presented in eight exceedingly thoughtful, unapologetically adventurous courses. His menu dances between the whimsical and the comforting with a keen eye for the ebbs and flows of flavors, flirting fearlessly with sensory overload without toppling over.

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Shanghai

[Shanghai] Botanik – A Culinary Happening in Real Time

Enshrouded in a lush rooftop garden stolen straight out of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Botanik is nothing like Shanghai has seen before. The wholehearted exploration of locavorism that Chef Elijah Holland and his team have embarked upon is so exceedingly rare in China that it would deserve a fair share of limelight in its own right, even if the cooking weren’t remarkable. Yet Botanik’s food proves to be vivid, robust, and almost invariably satisfying.

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Shanghai

[Shanghai] Coquille – A Different Kind of Brunch

Brunch has become a rather predictable affair in Shanghai, yet Coquille manages to turn our expectation on its head. Under owner Mr. John Liu and chef Mr. Patrick Leano, Coquille’s production of this weekend midday meal is not so much a Benedict-and-avocado-toast brunch as it is an excuse to bask in Mr. Leano’s version of indulgent French fare for those of us too impatient to wait for dinnertime.

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