A great concept restaurant creates a 360° experience that fulfills the senses and goes one step further. It indulges the elusive sixth sense and creates an environment that suspends reality and all the worries and stress that go with it. This kind of ambiance is incredibly fragile – a fine thread separates escapism and reality, and it requires a lot of hard work and planning to ensure it doesn’t break. Attention to detail is critical, from layout and lighting to match books and menus. The small things matter, as do people, food and service – your product has to live up to the environment and vice-versa.

Take Mi Tierra, a restaurant with all the right ingredients; a beautiful building decorated with a Mexican feel, Mexican art, a Mexican chef in the kitchen turning out authentic dishes with mole sauce how it should be made (with chocolate and seven types of nuts) and tamarind margaritas, but their operations trip them up. For example, at their terrace opening, shaky service and the pop music coming from the speakers was enough to rip us abruptly away from Mexico and back to reality.

Franck is another one that's nearly there. A Parisian bistro transplanted to the French Concession, complete with crowded tables, chalkboard menu, a superb wine cellar and a plethora of genuine Gallic knick-knacks. At times, when Franck himself is there, breezing around the restaurant floor, the illusion is complete but all it takes is a slip up in service, and the sixth sense is denied. Lost Heaven and Coconut Paradise also do well at evoking a particular sense of place and culture but similarly, operational problems are their downfall.

We’ve got our hopes pinned on Paul Pairet to up the ante with Ultraviolet. Conceptual to the core, it will combine food, drink, atmosphere and service with extra-sensory elements, all tailored to heighten the pleasure of the food; a gentle sea breeze to bring out the flavour of the fish, Beethoven when cutting the whole lacquered beef rib at the table. Pairet gets the sixth sense and this sums it up brilliantly: “If a restaurant should, above all, be about emotions, Ultraviolet's table of ten will crystallise them into memories.” You can see it already in the details at Mr & Mrs Bund with touches like ringing the front doorbell to enter and the unique presentation of his food, but with the bright lights of Lujiazui across the water, there’s little danger of forgetting you’re in Shanghai. We’re really looking forward to seeing what he comes up with and whether others will follow suit.

RestauRANT:

No one would hand out numerous different business cards to a potential buyer in a business situation so why is it that so many restaurants insist on having multiple menus? Too often we’re handed three, four, five different menus, half of which are covered in white out and stickers or handwritten notes or unavailable when it comes to ordering – the menu represents the restaurant and should make life easy for customers, not harder!

Amuse Bouche:

On a recent trip to Stiller's in the Cool Docks, we were delighted to witness what is too often a rarity in Shanghai – genuine high-quality service. When a Dutch associate ordered off the menu (a request usually met with an indignant response or a point blank refusal), the response was spot-on; gracious indulgence from the waitress and a table visit from Stefan Stiller to ensure the special steak tartare was to his liking. We need to see more of this in Shanghai.