Not so "petite"

Few weeks ago I met a super nice Shanghai guy called Sam. Gentle, very well spoken, and with an extremely sharp vision of how to run his business in the investment banking. What a surprise to find out, few weeks later, that this gentleman also owned four restaurants (five soon) in Shanghai! His F&B story started when he and his wife discovered Europe, its restaurants and arts. They quickly became addicted to antic shopping, buying everything from old pianos to original silver frames, armchairs, bird cages, etc... They would ship non less than five containers of them to Shanghai. Sam says it was easy to bring wood, bronze and the silver, but piano and furs were stopped at some point and wouldn't make it to China. Furs OK but pianos?... Well, he says, apparently too many Chinese piano collectors got cheated by sellers that would buy not that old pianos in Japan, age them and sell them for a fortune to naive collectors...

Sam and his wife showed an amazing, if not unique sense of design and decorum, designing their restaurants themselves... four of them! All of them called a French name but serving more like a mediterranean choice of dishes from Roasted Beef Salad, Sea Food Pastas and Pumpkin Risottos with feta cheese.

I haven't been to the three others but La Petite Fleur is a very charming restaurant, and it felt so not shanghai, it was so relaxing and I felt I was transported to South of France, Italy or Spain, where things goes slower than here, much slower...

La Petite Fleur (Shanghai, PRC)
n.25 Anfu Lu
+8621 54038247

By the same creative minds:
Le Petit Jardin
Le Petit Chateau
Le Jardin Secret

Pepperidge Farm, Good Taste, Health and Spirit

Another great discovery, from the other side of the planet this time. Straight from Connecticut, a family business born from the heart and passion of Margaret Rudkin, also one of the best business leaders of her time.

I'm sure you'll like her story, and her cookies even more...

Margaret was a 40-year-old-mother of three young sons, living in Fairfield, Connecticut on a beautiful property called Pepperidge Farm—named for an ancient Pepperidge tree that grew there. The Rudkins had moved into Pepperidge Farm in 1929—the same year as the great Stock Market Crash. The Rudkins faced many challenges during the Great Depression—but as parents, one of the most difficult challenges was dealing with the severe allergies and asthma of their youngest son, whose condition made him unable to eat most commercially processed foods.

Based on the advice of a specialist, Margaret put him on a diet of fruits and vegetables and minimally processed foods. Then one day Margaret decided to try baking him some all-natural stone ground whole wheat bread with vitamins and nutrients intact. At a time when puffy, aerated white bread dominated the market, many skeptics—including her son’s doctor—didn’t think it was possible to bake nutritious bread that was also delicious. Margaret proved them wrong.

Pepperidge Farm Cookies and many other stuff that any great parent should store in a old school, perched on a highest shelf
http://tinyurl.com/4ng89k4

Tea, Champagne with Kindle on the top at The Langham

Well... I guess we usually don't seek for a hotel lobby to spend an afternoon when one can find so many charming cafes. The good thing about the Longham in Shanghai is that it is right in the middle of the city, in Xin Tian Di where there are only few options for good read, tea and Champagne. After all these years I really got bored with Starbucks and Coffee Beans or Costa.

Longham lobby was splendidly designed and I immediately felt well there. It is spacious, not too bright, not too dark, a good acoustic that won't distract you from your reading or cause headache. Ordering the Champagne & Snacks set you might have to ask the staff to pour a bit more as they don't tend too be too generous on the quantity. Tea sets come with a great selection of sugars (see picture below): Maple, Muscavado, Brown, Crystal, White, Palm, Equal, and Free. Beautifully presented.

The Langham Xin Tian Di (Shanghai, PRC)
99 Madang Lu, near Taicang Lu
马当路99号1楼, 近太仓路
www.xintiandi.langhamhotels.com
+8621 2330 2288