New & Noted: Coquille
What: Seafood bistro from the restaurateur
behind Scarpetta
Where: 29 Mengzi Lu, near Xujiahui Lu.
Tel: 3376 8127
Why: Michelin star turns in the kitchen
make Coquille second to none
Investment banker John Liu took a gamble by leaving the finance world to start Scarpetta last year, but it paid off when Condé Nast Traveler ranked the Italian trattoria in the top 70 New Restaurants in the World. This summer, he rolled the dice again, closing for two months to expand Scarpetta and hiring Anna Bautista (formerly of Jack London
and SF’s Madera) to update the menu. The Michelin-starred chef stayed on, helping him take over the space next door for his sigh-worthy sophomore effort, Coquille.
The name suggests French seafood (coquille means “shell”), and while the initial idea was Franco-Indochine marine fare, inspiration has gone global. The menu still occasionally reflects Liu’s original intent (like excellent escargot
(RMB 88) tropicalised with spicy-sweet red curry and pungent kaffir lime leaves), but Bautista’s skill in the kitchen defies geographic limitations without the malapropism of fusion.
Lucky us, because it's when the chef dabbles in regional flavours that dishes shine brightest. In a playful blue fin “poke” tartare (RMB 188), Spain and Hawaii meet as tiny flecks of Iberico ham melt into diced raw tuna, accompanied by subtle sesame mustard sauce flecked with crisp Japanese edamame and deep-fried lotus chips a la China. Staying in the crudo section but crossing borders with the ease of a diplomat, Bautista serves
up venison tartare (RMB 218) hinting of Scandinavia’s boreal forests. Blooming with edible pansies, this seasonal raw deer tastes deliciously wild, laced with earthy pine oil and juniper vinaigrette.
Sharing more than a wall with Scarpetta, Coquille also features marrow (RMB 138). The oven-roasted beef bone yields the same quivering heap of meat custard, and tops it off with an impossibly savoury red wine-braised short rib ragout. Dollop both onto charred sourdough, and just try not to swoon.
The only miss of our meal was a take on French classic bouillabaisse (RMB 238).
Traditional Provencal soup comes as a sauce in this iteration, but it was watery in both texture and taste. At the centre, an overcooked filet of black cod crowned with a heavy garlic rouille dollop disappointed.
But where the French fish dish fails, Parisian bistro décor excels, right down to the black-and-white tiled floor and cane chairs in the petite dining room. At the entrance, an expansive marbled seafood bar, inlaid with brass, greets diners with glistening fruits de mer on ice, including titan Dungeness crabs (RMB 548 / kg) and rocky oysters from the salty marshes of Brittany. Bonjour, indeed.
It is early in 2014, but if our first meal here is any indication, we would put money on Conde Naste knocking on Liu’s door again next year to lavish more praise. The little out-of-the-way stretch of Mengzi Lu hosting the sister restaurants is turning into one of Shanghai’s most sought-after dining destinations. Here’s hoping that his next expansion takes out the KFC or Starbucks on the block.
