As a "usual costumer" at Fabrizio's "Il Nascondiglio" I wanted to add a few comments about the food and drinks (other people below have already said pretty much what it is about).
1. When you decide the menu with him avoid cuttlefish with gorgonzola: it tastes weird. Ravioli is a must! ask him to prepare some for you. Striped ravioli are beautiful and tasty! Pork shin is amazing. Fried calamari not particularly interesting (not sure it's fresh -frozen?).
2. For the drinks: avoid expensive Prosecco (forgot the brand), ask him the normal one, I think it's Zonin or something from his region, it's worthy and quite cheap. The same for wines, don't ask the expensive ones -or just bring your own wines, he doesn't charge corkage fee.
3. Fabrizio hides a GROLLA. Ask him to get it out! it's some typical drink from his region served in a carved wood, never seen anything like that...
4. Normally Fabrizio doesn't keep any soft drinks, coke or juice, if you want to have some, you better ask in advance, he will getfor you.
5. Don't venture on the stair case by yourself, you gonna be lost in the dark...

All in all, I love this small special place and I cannot but recommend "Il Nascondiglio", def keep coming back and bring more friends! Thanks Fabrizio and Ting!!!!

The whole evening at Nascondiglio is a special event. You will have dinner in a private flat, where the atmosphere is very warm and nice...and remembers the time, when Shanghai was a city of beautiful actresses and revolutionarys.

Fabrizio cooks excellent Italian foods which Ting elegantly serves at the table. They are both great hosts and very kind people. All guests sit around the same table and are invited to mix between each other in order to get to know each other.

For Shanghai standards the price may be perceived as a bit expensive, but it is completely worth! We had some great Italian fish dishes together with some bottles of really good Italian wine.
If you choose to dine at Nascondiglio, please bear in mind that you will be seating at the table with other fellow diners who you might not know. This could be a very pleasant experience...but this might be less fun if you meet a little haughty fellow diners :-)

Il Nascondiglio is an intimate home cooked experience, with great company and tons of wine.
Fabrizio and Ting create an old world experience that you can't get anywhere else in Shanghai. I would highly recommend if you are looking for something different. The building is an old mansion in the heart of the french concession that was previously owned by Chiang Kai Shek's family.
I have been to Il Nascondiglio twice, the first time with my boyfriend and 10 other strangers. It was a great way to meet people from all different backgrounds and age groups. The atmosphere is dark and candle lit. There is music from the 30s playing, and you really feel as though you have been brought to another era.
The second time we went, we booked out the whole place for a friend's birthday. It's is all the elements of having guests in your home, without the hassle. Fabrizio and Ting interact with the company while always making sure your glass is full. Beautiful couple.
I had never had venetian food before, and I found it really interesting. You can really feel all the influences from the local culture. The food is all Venetian home cooked specialties, similar to comfort food. It is mostly seafood based, and all the pasta is freshly made that day. Fabrizio had just gotten back from Italy and brought all fresh ingredients. He even shared some of his private collection of rum that had special flavors only made in Venice.
Really glad we found this place and have made many new friends! Book ahead as it gets filled quickly.

Where do I begin ?

The 'Experience' sounded very nice and unusual, and I ended up going with a group of friends.

1. The place is Creepy. Am sorry, but it was not clean, candles melt in old bottles of wine and some venetian masks in the living room do not make an atmosphere, or rather an odd and uncomfortable feeling. It looked more like tales from the Crypt than a Venetian experience.

2. The Food
Bruschetta = one slice of old bread, not even from a nice bakery with some diced tomato. I do not need to keep on about what was served that night it was plain bad.

3. The Bill
Seriously, at the end of the meal my friends asked 'so how much is it'and the reply was '5000'. We were 7. Then the guy said 'erm no, 4000, I get confused with currency exchange'.. Riiight....I was too shocked to make a fuss, and felt very inappropriate as this is their house. So, we ended up paying 500 RMB each which is not overpriced but a plain rip-off for that kind of food and place. Maybe we did drink a lot but it was cheap alcohol.

The couple was nice yes, the concept is nice, i dont mind you pinching a couple bucks but SERIOUSLY this was plain bad.

Will never go back.

It took me a long time to visit this place, but after having enjoyed it only yesterday night, I can't wait to another visit.

After having spent 10 years in Shanghai, I think I have never been to a place where dining is really an experience and will leave you with a wonderful memory of it.

It is a mixture of everything: the cozy location, the delicious food, the very hospital and charming hosts, the fact that you sit on a table with people you never met before, the pleasant music that you hardly notice because you are engaged listening to 100 stories being told at the table.

Great place. Highly recommended. Make a reservation early ;-)

This is an amazing set up: an Italian host with his lovely Chinese wife cook fabulous Italian recipes in their very charming apartment. It is something very unusual in Shanghai: a "private kitchen" concept, and it's really fun. All the food was great, the menu is somewhat flexible, and you can choose your own wines as well. Loved the experience very much and I hope it does not get too popular to the point where you cannot get a reservation. A truly unique experience in Shanghai. LOVED it.

Finally getting around to writing about Il Nascondiglio - I'm not sure how it is for normal nights, but my friends had booked the entire room for friends. Ting and Fabrizio were wonderful hosts in their old lane house upstairs apartment. As other reviews had mentioned, Il Nascondiglio is a private apartment kitchen, serving Italian seafood. The food was quite good - with the antipasto and fresh pasta being particular standouts. One of our friends wasn't pro-seafood, so Fabrizio had made a special menu for him - but I don't remember what he had.

If I had a complaint - I'd have two. One - the portion sizes, well for my fat American ass, it really was quite a small portion of pasta. Would have liked one or two more forkfuls - or at least the opportunity for a small second helping. And Fabrizio tried a gorgonzola/squid polenta mix, that didn't quite work out - but it was a lot more like eating in a friend's home (who is an excellent cook) rather than a formal restaurant. While expensive, I felt it was a charming experience and would come again.

Really great "secret resto". The atmosphere is great and romantic and felt very intimate w/ friends over very nice food, served by Fabrizio w/ authentic Italian cooking. They are so considerate and even brought a pianist to my bday dinner and it was absolutely amazing! Great resto, will def come back again (and we ve been there three times despite the difficult booking!)

This place is not the typical restaurant, is a very worm house owned by the nicest young couple. He is italian, she is chinese. He cooks, she serves. The place is very nice: a typical house, i guess from the beginning of last century, also preowned by someone famous i don't remember:) . Anyway the atmosphere is very worm and friendly (they also have a piano!) and the food is very good. Freshly made pasta and a menu that orbits around italian fish cousine. Also the chef goes to Italy monthly to bring back original italian food for his clients. I had a dinner with friends but i think tha it would be very nice even for a very special date. It may be a bit pricy for shanghai standards (500 rmb each - 50 euros) but the charm of this place make it definitely worth it!

I saw very good reviews from smart Shanghai so we booked. (now we were not sure if all previous reviews were wrote by the restaurant owners...)

All the imaginations were wrong, this is run by a young couples....

The starters had good and fresh elements to them, the salad was fresh
and decently seasoned. The meat part of our entrees however, were not
what we expected. They were bland and cold (2 entrees served).

We continued to be served plenty of wine (me and other 8 people who
are total strangers to moi). The wine was okay, something from the
100-200rmb corner from the supermarkets. At the end we had like 5-6
bottles altogether.

Then came the first main dish which was a pasta dish, home made. If
aldente is a diligent kid who would get an "A", these pastas were at
best a "D" exam result. soft, no texture, but I guess that is what
you should expect from a homemade pasta in China.....

The second dish came with a piece of carbohydrate/I don't know what it
is. It was bland, tasteless and not worth putting into your stomach
by any means unless you fancy a lot of energy without taste. The meat
that accompany the dish was blandly cooked and nothing special.

What i was quite annoyed with was also the fact that the plate's
hygiene wasn't up to my standard. The owner use this particular piece
of cloth to clean all the plates while they are being returned to us
for consumption. So if stranger number 1 and stranger number 3 had
some contagious flu, moi would have probably been susceptible to
getting the flu too.

Finally, the dessert, this was the redemption. It was not bad, nicely
made with a lot of attention and care. But given the per person bill
which is 500rmb/person, i felt the whole combination was on the
expensive side and I would rather go to places like Isola, or Franck
for the food as the quality is not comparable. A good attempt to mix
strangers together but lame execution on what matter, which are food
and wine.

Yours truly,

Il Nascondiglio (which translates to "the hideout") is absolutely more than anything you can imagine. If the Italian experience is what you are after, an enchanted evening at Il Nascondiglio will surely not disappoint. By far, this is not your typical Shanghai dining experience. The unique concept of sharing a dining room table with strangers and enjoying superb Venetian dishes is not only unique but also most enjoyable. The evening was perfection from start to finish. For those needing an "Italy fix" to tie you over until your next trip there this is the place to enjoy true Italian dishes with the dining ambiance to complement the evening. A must for every expat living in Shanghai!

Great food, great hosts. Fabrizio and Ting were the consummate hosts, always gracious and generous. In addition to the lovely food, Fabrizio served us aperitif and liqueurs that he brought back from Italy for his personal use. They laugh and drank with us and this felt more like an intimate dinner at a friend's home rather than a restaurant.

Can't wait to go back.