YTL Hotels is proud to announce the full opening of the much anticipated Shook! Shanghai, following its soft-opening in May. Located in Shanghai’s The Swatch Art Peace Hotel, formerly the iconic Palace Hotel, the perpetual motion restaurant Shook!, along with Time Bar and The Swatch Art Peace Hotel Terrace, is now among contemporary Shanghai’s most unique and compelling dining and entertainment addresses.
This ultra chic Renaissance style 1906 colonial heritage hotel and landmark is located on Nanjing Road at the Bund intersection, overlooking the Huangpu River and the Pudong skyline.
Perched in a space of symmetry and proportion, Shook! Shanghai – the first outpost outside of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, features the skills of 4 epicurean chefs with 4 distinct cuisines. A show kitchen – dubbed the ‘Ferrari’ of kitchens, is the ultimate culinary vernissage, where its signature dishes are created around the senses. The menu flirts with seasonal trends and boasts an adventurous journey of East and West, from Chinese, Japanese, South-East Asia and modern Western. The culinary team is helmed by YTL’s corporate chef Kevin Cape, from the UK. Chef Cape also played a pivotal role in the success of Shook! Kuala Lumpur. An open theatre to farmers’ market freshness, some notable nosh includes the snow white dancing prawns, confit of slow cooked salmon and Cajun style seabass.
Lining both walls of the entrance hallway leading to the restaurant are the beautifully designed wine cellars, showcasing some of the world’s finest wines and champagnes. The centrepiece of the wine cellar is made up of two rare vertical collections of Bordeaux’s elite estates – Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau d’Yquem. Each collection offers vintages from 1945 to 2010.
The play begins at Time Bar, accented with tints of dark wood and black stone dressed in cream- coloured leather. It is an endless noble balance between sphere and setting, where elongated glass windows illuminate the spectacular views along the Huangpu River. The partitioned dining frame is a mix of Chinese and colonial tradition. Rich textures and sumptuous fabrics provide an eternal contrast between the past and present that is distinctively Chinoiserie in style. Beverages are an eclectic mix of innovative and classic cocktails. The Time Bar uses molecular mixology technique to create its signature Caviar Royal – a show of Moët & Chandon Vintage 2003 and ‘pearls’ of Crème de Cassis.
Pre-dinner cocktail or after dinner drinks on The Swatch Art Peace Hotel Terrace – opening at the end of June 2011, with stunning views of the Bund and the endless skyscrapers from across in Pudong – makes for a perfect backdrop. Purest design, with white sofas and discreet touches of black and red, makes it a mesmerising experience shared with the movers and shakers in this celebrated city.
Adjacent to Shook! Shanghai on the fifth floor, the stylish multi-media banquet “The Gallery” is the perfect venue for concerts, private film screenings, press conferences and private receptions. The Hotel’s two defining domed towers on The Swatch Art Peace Hotel Terrace, Corner Tower and Blancpain Room, both with high-ceilinged elegant décor are ideal for intimate candlelight dinners. Just steps away, is one of the city’s most historic private meeting rooms, the Chiang-Soong Room, which has been restored to its original elegance. The Chiang-Soong Room is the very same venue where the First International Opium Conference was held in 1909. It is also where Chiang Kai-Shek and Soong Mei Ling of the storied Soong Sisters celebrated their engagement.
