Shanghai ChefsAbout the Culinary World of Shanghai

Various rumors have been passing around concerning the closure of M1NT, the scams involved and the Australian guy behind the concept being captured. M1NT in Shanghai had a lot of expected promises offering the ‘exclusive members-only club’ scene. Whilst nobody knows the true story exactly (yet), the place is still definitely open, and we wish them all the best as we do really enjoy having Dan’s input in the Shanghai food scene.

The offer of a members-only place caters to a very select minority group in Shanghai. A bit like the Polo…which I had the painful pleasure of being present at as part of a Hen’s Day outing. Us chefs being mostly socially inept and awkward; particularly when it comes to being in the company of polite and cultured people, I was a little nervous, especially with the free-flow offer of champagne and wine throughout the day. However, the free-flow ran out only about three hours into the event, with several more  hours to go. Having paid almost an obscene amount for the VIP tickets, we were needless to say quite disappointed.

Firstly, the white wine and champagne was served at room-temperature (and the sun was out in full-force that day with the tent acting more like a heated yoga room than a shade from the heat). The line-up for the buffet was disappointing, luke-warm and flies were buzzing around the hot dogs. Need I say more? With this exclusive bunch of people paying for their tickets and taking an interest in the event, you’d think that they could have spent a bit more on the food budget, serve wine at the right temperature, and at least have enough wine to support the ‘free-flow’ theme as advertised. Luckily for me, the company I had was enough to keep me entertained for the whole day. That, and coincidentally meeting the operations manager from LAN.

Having attended the City Weekend Awards night last week, I had the chance for the first time to visit the place. While I won’t mention anything concerning the awards (as it has been covered by our other writer), I will say however that LAN does not serve glasses of ice water. At least that is what the bar tender told me that night. Instead, I was offered Sprite filled up to 1/4 of the glass when the bottle was finished. He didn’t bother to open another bottle and just continued to stare at me. Now, come on…

We were informed by the operations manager that a new concept was being designed for a place…something that involved two tapas menus – one Western style and the other “Chinese style” (dim sums) on the same floor. There was also going to be a sushi bar, rooftop bar and another restaurant? Sounded like a whole lot of confusion to us…but let’s hope they’ll serve ice water in all areas.

On another note, Factory will be hosting another ‘Too Many Chefs’ event. The ten chefs involved will be judged by customers who attend on the night and the winner gets…to keep their ego intact. We hear that even the media has to pay for their seats so this one will definitely be a paying-only customers’ choice awards….