Eduardo

Eduardo Vargas is the man behind many restaurants in Shanghai, past and present. He's incorporate AZUL GROUP, a brand that unites his current ventures. AZUL, which has been around in some form for close to 20 years, and both Colca restaurants, which showcase his Peruvian heritage. And now AZUL Italiano joins the party. In his two decades in Shanghai, he has hosted countless parties, weddings, birthday showers and other get-togethers, and he and his team know what it takes to organize a successful event.

AZUL at Shankang Li

The Shanghai fixture, AZUL, has moved to the new Jing’an development, Shankang Li. Will Colmanares presides over the cooking at the busy Latin restaurant. He previously ran the kitchen at Char inside Hotel Indigo. AZUL has both outdoor terrace seating and indoor seating for 120 to 250 people. The whole restaurant can be booked out for 60-100k rmb.

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Colca North Bund

Colca's colorful orange and blue design is continued at the North Bund Sinar Mas Plaza restaurant, making for a fun, social dining experience. The Nazca Line animals of Peru serve as the brand's mascots. Hummingbirds hang from the ceiling and there's a monkey above the bar. The massive restaurant opened in late 2019 and was built with hosting events in mind. The entire restaurant can be booked out for 60–80k rmb for up to 350 people.

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Stage Room

The stage on the first floor can be closed off and transformed into a private dining room with full A/V capabilities. It fits 26. The minimum spend is around 8,000rmb.

Second Floor Private Space

The second floor seats 32 and has a minimum spend of 8,000rmb. As with all rooms at Colca, it has a projector, microphone and sound system.

Terrace

Outside, there is a 150 square meter covered terrace with its own bar.

A New Addition: AZUL Italiano

North Bund's Colca relaunched its sunny event space into a bustling, bright and boisterous new concept called AZUL Italiano. A casual pan-Italian eatery, it keeps the flexibility that made it great for all sorts of events, and now welcomes diners and lunch patrons looking for a sit-down meal in surroundings serving up memories of Roman Holiday.

An Event Space For Any Occasion

Azul Italiano occupies 500sqm, perfect for events, banquets, cocktail parties or meetings for up to 180 people. The whole space can be booked out for dinner for 40,000rmb (typically lunch events are around half the price). The real beauty of the new design is how adaptable it is: the tall glass partition can create a smaller space for around 60 people, with a minimum spend of 10,000pm for dinner events, or even smaller side-rooms.

The VIP Room

The private VIP room is at the far end of the space, overlooking the front of the plaza and picturesque Yangpu District. Decked out in red wallpaper and floor-to-ceiling 180 degree glass windows, it hosts a long table that fits up to 16 people and a TV for A/V needs. The room is popular for family and group parties, and minimum spend for evening events is 5,000rmb.

Private Rooms @ Azul Italiano

For smaller get-togethers, Azul Italiano has several side rooms that can be closed off with more patterned glass partitions, creating quieter, more private spaces for groups from 10-30 people, with minimum spend ranging from 2,000rmb to 5,000rmb for dinner.

The Italian Kitchen

Best of all, the old canape bar has been upgraded to a full workspace. Led by Azul & Colca's new Executive Head Chef from Venezuela, chef Willmer Colmenares, the kitchen does creative takes on Italian classics like pasta, pizza and meatballs without getting too lost in tradition. Keep your eye out for lesser-known dishes like the cioppino, a rich Italian-American seafood stew, the sumptuous Red Crab Pasta, or their dressed take on ham and melon which adds figs, honey and aged balsamic. Or the array of dessert, like the photo-loving tiramisu or the colorful, ricotta-stuffed upright cannolis.

Colca Hengshan

Colca at Hengshan Lu is in the heart of Xuhui district with large glass windows surrounding the whole dining space. The restaurant has a lot of flexible partition options to accommodate groups of varying size. You can book the entire restaurant including the VIP rooms, and patios for 80-100k rmb for up to 250 people.

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Glass Room

This private dining space fits up to 40 people and can be completely closed off. A portable projector and microphone are at the ready if needed. The minimum spend is 10,000rmb.

Wall Room

The semi closed off dining area fits up to 52 people and can be rented for a minimum around 20,000rmb. The space is equipped with a very large projector screen.

VIP Patio Room

The detached room has windows opening out to the patio. The space can fit up to 20 people with an additional eight at the window. The space has heat and AC for all seasons, and a TV. It can be rented for 10,000rmb.

Patio

This space at the Colca on Hengshan Lu has high and low seats for 40 people. Colca can provide heat lamps for comfortable dining on the patio in colder months.

Catering

Canapé catering is available at both the Hengshan and Sinar Mas Colca locations. The Peruvian menu includes truffle mushroom croqueta, tuna tataki with potato causa, Peruvian flan, octopus with potato causa, Vietnamese spring rolls, ceviche, chicken croqueta, lemon tart, chocolate and berry mouse, coconut and mango panna cotta, and seasonal berry tarts.

For catering, family-style sharing dishes are also available to order, like the Solterito Salad, Chicken Chili, and Tuna Steak salad.

Azul and Colca can also prepare a la carte set menus for each person. Pictured here is Colca's signature Peruvian Seafood Rice.

On the next two slides, we’ll introduce the decision makers at Azul and Colca who you can have direct access to. Tell them you saw their slideshow on SmartShanghai and choose between a complimentary welcome drink for each guest, or a dessert for each reserved table for group bookings between Monday – Thursday.

Angel

Angel Abadia Albaiceta, Operations Director and Partner, worked in hospitality in Spain, the UK, and the Czech Republic for over 15 years before joining the Vargas family in 2015 at Azul. He is originally from Spain and came to Shanghai in 2014. Contact Angel for English and Spanish language reservations and event bookings. Add his WeChat.

Weng

Weng Keat is the General Manager of AZUL Italiano and Colca North Bund. He's been in F&B for over 20 years. This good sir joined Colca in 2017 when the Hengshan location first opened. He moved from Malaysia to Shanghai in 2012. Contact Weng for English and Mandarin language reservations and event bookings. Add him on WeChat.