On July 8th, 102 House on the Bund officially closed its doors. This wasn't just any restaurant—it held two Michelin stars and a spot on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list. The official reason given was simply this: lease expired. That same month, Soif, the bar that helped kickstart Shanghai's natural wine scene, quietly shut down too, with word that a new tenant is already lined up to take over the space. Meanwhile, EPIC, a cocktail bar that had run for 12 years on Gaoyou Road, also closed its doors, citing the same lease issues. Three establishments—different tiers, different crowds, different histories—all falling under the same contractual logic. That's worth noting more than any opening ever could.
Several other closures happened the same month: Genesis Restaurant, the Korean dining concept under Hyundai Motor Group, shut its Xintiandi location in early June; Yak & Yeti, the Himalayan restaurant on Xiangyang North Road, held its last day of service on July 26th, with plans to reopen under a new concept in fall—a farewell party was held before noon on the 26th; Feral Banh Mi's Jing'an location closed due to unforeseen circumstances, with plans to reopen on Yuyuan Road in August in a larger space with noodles added to the menu; Italian restaurant Ragu didn't so much close as relocate to a bigger space along Suzhou Creek; Bleuska, the ice cream shop in Xintiandi, also went dark, joining this year's growing list of artisanal ice cream shop closures; and Swiss Butchery, after nearly a decade on Urumqi Road, closed that location and shifted to online orders fulfilled from its central kitchen on Yinting Road, with a physical Pudong location still in the works.
Filling the Gaps: Sourdough Bread and Thick-Cut Popcorn
Compared to the big moves happening on the Bund, this month's new openings were smaller and more specific. Inside Zhonghua Building on Renmin Road, chef Julien Xu opened Ignis Table, a chef's table concept. He previously worked at Ultraviolet, most recently helmed Rêver in Guangzhou, and holds a One Knife certification from The Best Chef Awards. The menu leans modern Chinese with a focus on premium seafood, with the tasting menu priced at ¥1,880 plus 10% service charge.
Juniper, the gin bar along Suzhou Creek, opened a neighboring spot called BaDu, specializing in freshly made sourdough bread—whole loaves, open-faced sandwiches, sliced cakes, and coffee all on offer. Over on Wuding Road in Jing'an, natural wine importer Zita Hu opened TonAri, a French-Chinese fusion wine bar with a small, quiet space perfect for lingering over drinks. Signature dishes include scallion oil pasta with caviar and spicy oil sole, with the wine list focused on natural and organic selections starting at ¥69 a glass.
Inside Xintiandi's Galleria, KLAZ—backed by MUSE Group—opened back in March, with a spacious layout split between a Western-style dining and shisha bar on one side and an omakase and private teppanyaki room on the other. Nearby at LuOne mall, Agarwood has opened, helmed by a chef with Michelin experience, serving casual French-fusion fare. Worth noting is Kettle Masters, a small shop in Qingpu that's been around since 2021, where customers can watch the entire frying process and season their own chips. They fry with beef tallow to make hand-cut chips thicker and crispier than standard Lay's, available in flavors like coffee, salt & vinegar, Sichuan spicy, Xinjiang barbecue, and scallion pancake. A 100-gram bag runs ¥25, also available through their WeChat store, KettleMastersKettleChips.
Brunch, Meal Replacements, and a Twelve-Year Party
VICE Shanghai has started serving lunch seven days a week, with salmon superfood bowls, skewers with wild rice, and green barley risotto joining the dinner-only beef noodle soup and tiger's milk-cured salmon that remain on the menu. Weekend brunch launches in mid-August, with the menu rotating through blackboard specials. Meanwhile, Nono's Ristorante has rolled out daily brunch offerings, with char siu scrambled egg toast, truffle ham and egg pizza, and roast chicken with spaetzle among the standout mashups. Meal-replacement service NUVI has brought on a full-time nutritionist for custom meal planning, positioning itself around performance-level dietary management—meals start at ¥165, with a three-meals-two-snacks plan running ¥390 and including one free phone consultation.
Spanish restaurant Tomatito is celebrating 12 years in Shanghai with a party on July 25th—live guitar during the day, DJ Toni Ventura spinning at night, and all tapas and drinks priced at a flat ¥12 all day. Singapore-style bak chor mee is also back—Joey Cheong (Noodle Uncle) is running a pop-up at Shaker Logic on The Roof in Xintiandi, serving from 11am to 2pm Tuesday through Sunday. Address: 458 Madang Road, reservations through WeChat search Noodle-Uncle. Elsewhere, Texas Roadhouse is set to open at iapm; French restaurant 16ème is soft-launching along Suzhou Creek with a tasting menu at ¥688; and the West Bund is welcoming three new spots at once—Newa, RAC, and Mozzarella e Vino.
