[My Weekender] with Charles Belin

Dining, nightlife, and a little XBOX with Charles Belin - Mar 28, 08

Charles was a one-time manager of Mint and the man behind the relaunch of their "No Man's Land" ladies night parties at Dragon Club. He also runs design/events agency, "Design to the People."

These days, Shanghai is a layer cake. I remember a time when everyone would hang out with each other at the same paces. There was a bar for our Wednesdays, our Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I remember people were mixing too. Now there's a different population loyal to several different places. Shanghai now looks like a real big city, nightlife and clubbing wise: many options, many different feelings, and categorizations. I'm fine with that and enjoy seeing new scenes opening and listening to more specific kind of sounds. Shanghai is getting richer in its musical/art/clubbing choices -- I just wish the quality could be on par with the ambition.

So anyway, I am now 32, married and a daddy-to-be... Translation: no girls, no smoke, and no booze in my nocturnal expeditions. D'OH!

But boy! This is Shanghai! The city that never sleeps! And there's always something to do here!

Friday night:
Planning to hang out with the Japanese crew, the girls, Nakamura Kazu and Kuroki Norikazu, both owners of Colabo restaurants and Dragon club. A glass of red wine, a plate of antipasti on the balcony of the old lane house of Colabo then our favourite shabu shabu place by Wanping and Huaihai for the usual awesome Japanese hot pot, huge Asahi "nama biru," and the smile of the mama san. Stuffed and happy we will roll down to the Bund where BR will be celebrating its reopening in a very French chic decadent way. You can trust the guys on this! This will be a good chance to catch up with my bro Damien Kay, resident DJ, and to gesticulate on his well-chosen house music. Then it will be flaming drinks on the bar and winks to and from the girls. A married man can do that right?



There will probably be some back and forth trips between BR and L18 until, just like a furious pigeon that has entered someone's house, I finally and totally randomly find the escape... and the elevator, dishevelled, hot and happy to crash on my bed. Maybe...

Saturday:
Good moooooorning Shanghai! Nothing better to wake up than some good Tahiti 80 kicking loud in my old lane house -- most of my neighbours are deaf anyway. Others don't care about noise or believe it keeps ghosts away. A preservative and monosodium glutamate-free pregnant woman makes the choice difficult when it comes to finding a lunch place. Bellagio Café would probably be our choice. Zen and I love the one in Gubei, by Hongqiao and Yongcheng. Taiwan food and deserts for connoisseurs. Funny thing about this place is the staff being exclusively short-haired girls! Chill out afternoon, a quick stop at my studio in Taikang Lu and an espresso there enjoying a generous spring sunlight at Kommune with the ozzie mates. We won't have dinner too far; paying a visit to our lovable DJ Marius aka "Phatkatt" at the thai place he opened together with Walter aka "Iluksozeninmyfancyshirts" from T8: Naam Thai. Great and unpretentious place, good food, and excellent vibe.

Sunday:
Golf, or not... swimming for Zen, or not... most probably XBOX 360 I guess. Sunday is xiao long ba's day. Ding Tai Fang in Xintiandi or just the closest xiao long ba spot around. A Sunday in Shanghai with no xiao long ba is like a bread free Sunday in Paris, and I am a faithful person. Sunday afternoon's shopping, a stop at Arch around 4pm and a pleasant glass of wine with our sweetest Angelo Guese or a cup of the best hot chocolate in the city at Boona Café on Xinle Lu. DVD crusade then and evening coma on the couch, lazily caressing Zen's growing belly.

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