Closings:
End of an era. After 11 years, Villa Le Bec is closing it's Xinhua Lu location on February 14th and relocating to the Bund City Hall mid of April (exact date tbc). This is your last chance to eat in that old villa.
Buono a Room, the small natural wine bar run by Alvin and known among wine regulars for its rotating bottles and casual sharing plates, has quietly closed after about a decade in Shanghai.
Penicillin has temporarily closed due to an investor dispute that's escalated into a legal issue. No clear timeline for reopening. More on that here.
Nouvo, which took over Diner's old spot on Wulumuqi Lu, is also closed. We just wrote about them back in the summer. Not a lucky location, apparently, despite the steady tourist crowds.
NAMU, the casual hidden Korean spot at Shanghai Centre from the former Jeju Izakaya team (chefs Dean, Shin, and Jass), officially shut on February 1, 2026. Probably a bit too hidden?
And the biggest F&B news this month:
Green & Safe Is Out of the Game
Green & Safe, the OG of Shanghai's organic café scene, has officially pulled the plug on its last two locations — Xintiandi and Takashimaya — quietly ending a slow-motion exit that's been unfolding since 2022. The brand launched 14 years ago on Dongping Lu.
You might still see their name floating around on organic delivery platforms or slapped on a third-party grocer, but the farm-to-table café vibes? Gone.
What happened?
High-rent locations and a high-cost model: owning farms in Kunshan, importing pricey ingredients, operating giant two-floor spaces in areas where foot traffic costs a fortune. Like Element Fresh and Sproutworks before them, they were built for a specific demo: upper-middle locals and expats with a taste for "conscious eating." That crowd shrank. Spending habits shifted. Landlords still wanted luxury-tier rent.
It's not that people stopped caring about health; they just found cheaper, easier ways to do it. You can't ride nostalgia when you're paying Xintiandi rent.
Random News Bits:
Jeffrey from Le Saleya has taken over long-running wine bar La Vite on Wulumuqi Lu and turned it into La Tavernetta. More on that soon.
The new Andaz on top of the ITC Xujiahui towers is now open. The press release describes it as a "destination for Shanghai's food-savvy crowd" (make of that what you will). Probably the one worth checking out is the rooftop bar, called... Rooftop Bar. More on that soon on SmartShanghai.
The Cometa team is working on a new concept for the former Sage space. The previous project wrapped up a little abruptly, and the chef has since moved on to Rambu.
New-ish Openings Around Town
Full disclosure: not everything here is brand new, and we haven't been to all of these spots yet. Think of this as a roundup of places that popped up while we weren't doing roundups — places we've noticed and are curious about.
Nono's
Nono's began as a pop-up and now joins the Yaya's Expanded Universe as a standalone restaurant, and it hasn't exactly gone unnoticed. The Yaya's trio — Dan Li, Mike Liu, and Andrew Moo — have teamed up with chef Chris Zhu (Blaz) and wine lead Franklin Chiang (Next Bottle) to push this one a little further into the experimental zone. Still Italian, but the compass points firmly toward China: squid spaghetti with xuecai, bone marrow, that kind of thing. Their most popular pizza right now is a Claypot Rice Pizza, inspired by the Cantonese classic. Definitely not something you'd see in Italy — which, honestly, might be part of the appeal.
Madrid1995
This one's already getting two thumbs up from our Spanish friends. Madrid 1995 is a traditional Spanish restaurant in a quiet lane near Qiantan Park, out in Pudong. It's run by a Chinese couple who grew up in Madrid, and the first floor — now open — is lined floor-to-ceiling with bottles from more than a dozen Spanish wineries.
It's a spacious spot serving classic Spanish dishes alongside a strong wine list. If you're Spanish and living in Pudong (or just miss a proper tortilla), this one's probably worth checking out.
Kirillitsa
Kirillitsa is a Russian fine dining restaurant at Bund City Hall, named after the Cyrillic alphabet as a nod to cultural roots and identity. The chef, Evgeny Vikentiv, offers a modern take on traditional Russian cuisine, shaped by his training in Europe and work in Saint Petersburg and Berlin. The menu runs from updated Soviet-era comfort food to more refined tasting menus, with a strong wine list to match. It's one of the first openings in the newly launched Bund City Hall complex.
Crow Jane
Crow Jane is casual western brunch spot in this new F&B hub Yongyuan Lu that we wrote about here . Expect brunch staples with North American and light Mexican influences, plus a relaxed, pet-friendly setup with outdoor seating that works well for slow daytime meals or casual meetups.
O'Mills Firewood
Not so new anymore, but we somehow missed this one — and it's well worth trying. This is O'Mills' most ambitious outpost to date, built around a serious French wood-burning oven and set in the former home of Luneur's very first location (a bold move, given how successful that brand has become).
Daytime is all sourdough loaves, laminated pastries, and comfort food; evenings turn more theatrical, with wood-fired mains and high-impact plates that lean into a bit of showmanship. A polished, high-drama space for people who like their bread with a side of confidence.
Le Zink
Le Zink is a French bistro and wine bar on Changle Lu, run by a former head chef from Chez Jojo and his partners. The setup leans toward a classic zinc-style bar, with straightforward French bar food and a notably serious wine program spanning French, natural, and even sake. The room reads relaxed rather than flashy, and the menu sticks to bistro fundamentals — tartare, slow-cooked meats, eggs and sauces done by the book — shaping up as the kind of place that could work well for low-key drinks that stretch into the evening.
Juniper
Suzhou Creek continues its slow glow-up, and Juniper is the latest spot to land near Fotografiska, taking over a beautiful space that's been sitting empty for a while. From the photos, it's a large, polished Western restaurant with a high atrium, comfortable seating, and views out toward the creek.
The menu reads modern Western, with a lunch set at RMB 168 for three courses and dishes like foie gras mousse dorayaki, smoky cauliflower, herb-crusted lamb chops, pan-seared sea bass, and lemon butter noodles. On paper, at least, it looks like a solid lunch spot to the area's growing dining options.
Nude
Just across from Juniper along Suzhou Creek, Nude is tucked inside SuheHaus and positions itself at the intersection of food, vinyl, and art. The menu appears to lean Asian-inspired and creative, with roots in Fujian flavors and a broader, cross-cultural approach.
Music seems to be central to the concept, with vinyl records played live each night, while the space also doubles as a small exhibition venue with rotating artworks. From the setup, it looks like a place designed for unhurried meals where atmosphere is as much the draw as the food.
