Date: Mar 3rd 2014 2:28p.m.

Contributed by:
dominicngai

Bring in the Champagne glasses! On the recently announced Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2014, five restaurants in our city made it into the prestigious list curated by Restaurant magazine.

A huge congratulations to chef Paul Pairet who has two venues, Ultraviolet and Mr & Mrs Bund, at the eighth and eleventh spot respectively. Fu1015 (number 26), Family Li Imperial Cuisine in Huangpu Park (number 46) and Franck (number 48) also made it into the top 50 this year.

In addition to having one of his restaurants appear on the list for the first time, chef Ivan Li of Family Li Imperial Cuisine is also this year’s recipient of the Diners Club Lifetime Achievement Award.

After more than a year of delays, Hakkasan will finally open its doors on the fifth floor of Bund 18 on Friday, March 28. The group’s London-based head chef Tong Chee Hwee will be flying in to oversee the opening. The kitchen in Shanghai will be manned by Malaysian chef de cuisine Alvin Chan, who has an impressive résumé working at international hotel groups in China, Southeast Asia and Dubai for over 30 years.

Chan was most recently the Chinese executive chef at Banyan Tree Shanghai on the Bund. There’s also some great news coming out of Mercato. We’re learning from the folks at Three on the Bund that the successful casual Italian spot by Jean Georges is planning an expansion to Suzhou. Little is known about the project timeline, but we are excited for our friends at Mercato!

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