[Shanghai] Quan Er 荃二 (2)

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Quan Er 荃二

Add: 1 Alley 76 Wuyuan Road, near Changshu Road
Tel: 186 2165 1927
Hours: [Thu-Fri] 8-10pm [Sat-Sun] 3-10pm (closed Mon-Wed)
Price: varies
Visited: Sep 2015

I had previously told you about 荃二 (Quan Er), a tiny boutique on Changle Road filled with beautiful ceramics and other knickknacks collected from Japan. It has since moved to Wuyuan Road to a bigger and brighter space, with a charming loft design. In case you had missed the info last time, here it is again: I met 文林 (Wen Lin), one of the three shop owners, years ago through a magazine interview. A soft-spoken man from Sichuan, Wen was then the Associate Director of the lifestyle section at Bund Pic and travelled often to Japan for work. Throughout the years, he and his colleagues have accumulated an impressive collection of miscellaneous goods, and decided to open Quan Er to share this with like-minded others.

之前曾介紹過的日式雜貨店荃二,最近搬了到五原路。新的空間更大更明亮,而且還有舒服的夾層設計。跟店主之一的文林認識是在去巴黎之前,通過雜志訪問的緣故。四川人,相當安靜沈穩,跟他說說話似乎血壓都降低了。之前是外灘畫報生活版副總監的他,由于工作的關系經常去日本,幾年下來和同事們收集了不少手工藝職人的作品。想想不如開間店,分享給同樣愛好的人,于是就有了荃二。

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[Shanghai] Mellower Coffee

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Mellower Coffee

Add: 9 Jinan Road, near Songshan Road / 济南路9号, 近嵩山路
Tel: 6351 1079
Hours: 8:30am-10pm
Website: www.mellowercoffee.com
Price: [coffee] 40-58 RMB
Visited: Sep 2015

Mellower Coffee is a local Chinese chain that popped up about a year ago in Oct 2014, and is apparently very serious about its coffee. While coffee connoisseurs go for the real deal (AeroPress, Chemex, V60, ice drip etc.), most customers – myself included – go simply to try a drink called “sweet little rain”, consisting of Americano served with a piece of cotton candy hovering above it. Details below.

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Why yes, that is a piece of cotton candy cloud raining sugar into my coffee. As the steam from the coffee heats the cotton candy, it melts and drips, thereby sweetening the coffee. Super cute presentation and idea, but the result is mediocre coffee (inevitably you have to wait for the cotton candy to melt, and that means lukewarm coffee by the time you get to it) and a sticky coffee cup that’s messy to hold.

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[Shanghai] Chang Zuo 長作

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Chang Zuo 長作

Add: No. 2, Alley 764, Changle Rd./ 長樂路764弄2號
Tel: N/A
Hours: N/A (no specific info during soft-opening)
Price: [drinks] 40-68 RMB [pastries] 40 RMB
Visited: Sep 2015

Just opened 2 months ago, Chang Zuo 長作 is the newest outlet by Chinese fashion brand/select shop Dong Liang 棟樑. Located on Changle Road, this beautifully renovated structure includes a first floor cafe, topped by 3 levels of boutique space displaying a carefully curated selection from independent designers, as well as Dong Liang’s own creations. The design style is a mix of modern and wabisabi, with careful attention to details. It’s exactly my cup of tea.

荃二文老板的福,我在回上海的第四天就發現了棟梁于長樂路上新開的 “長作“。 一樓是咖啡館,二至四樓則是與棟梁合作的獨立設計師作品陳列室。整個空間非常漂亮,許多小細節都做的相當用心,而且雖是新店,卻已有種沈澱過,令人安心的穩重感。

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[Paris] Cafe Oberkampf

Cafe Oberkampf

Add: 3 rue Neuve Popincourt, 75012 Paris
Tel: 01 43 55 60 10
Hours: [Mon-Fri] 8:30am-5:30pm [Sat-Sun] 9:30am-6:30pm
Price: [coffee] €2.4-5 [food] €4-12
Visited: Aug 2015

A new addition to the Paris cafe scene. Great coffee, friendly service, banana bread served with salted butter, and freshly assembled sandwiches toasted to order. What’s not to love?

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[Paris] Afternoon Tea at Le Bristol

Le Bristol

Add: 112, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris
Tel: 01 53 43 43 00
Hours: [afternoon tea] 3-6pm
Website: www.lebristolparis.com
Price: [afternoon tea] €80/tea set for two
Visited: Sep 2015

Before leaving Paris, I wanted to have one last afternoon tea at a hotel. Crossing off the ones I’ve already been to – Le Meurice, Plaza Athénée, Shangri-la, The Peninsula, George V – I decided to try Le Bristol and the delicious creations from renowned pastry chef Laurent Jeannin.

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The Thé Complèt (€48/person, or 80/for two) includes two beverages and a three-tier stand of savories and sweets. Though it’s designed for two people, it can easily satisfy three people in terms of the amount of food that’s served. Details to follow.

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[Paris] Sébastien Dégardin

Sébastien Dégardin

Add: 200, rue Saint-Jacques – 75005 Paris
Tel: 01 43 07 77 59
Hours: [Tue-Sun] 9am-8pm (closed on Mon & Tue)
Website: www.sebastien-degardin.com
Price: €4-5/patisserie
Visited: Sep 2015

I didn’t know about Sébastien Dégardin until I read the latest Fou de Patisserie magazine, where I found out that this ex-pastry chef from the legendary Troisgros now runs his own pastry boutique in Paris 5eme near the Pantheon. Where have I been?!

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So I went straight away to sample a few pastry creations from the chef, starting with Mara (€5.50), composed of a dacquoise with almonds, light vanilla cream, and red fruit compote, all wrapped around by a soft biscuit, then topped with hazelnut streusel and fresh fig.

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