Right! Last week was resurrections, this week is transformations. Le Baron got their top floor turned into Beverly, Enoterra got turned into QV Wine Bar, and Arkham adding in a new lounge called Asylum. In other news, Daphne Cheng's got some exciting spots incoming for those of the vegan persuasion. Get ethically stuck in.

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Now Open

As per our Radar, Le Baron opened up their top floor and terrace under a very pink new brand called Beverly, according to one of our commenters perhaps deeply inspired by Sketch Gallery in London. You can read about that and a whole lot more about in the Donghu environs here. Meanwhile, the Popolo people behind popular spots like Gemma, Bar Centrale and recently opened Alimentari have taken over the corner spot on Wuding Lu and Jiaozhou Lu. They've turned it into QV Wine Bar. Kyu-vee. Cuvée. Get it? That's French for, and my French is rusty, a "wine thing." The place is an Italian wine bar and tapas spot, and they're in the middle of their soft opening (October 20 to October 26). In hotel bar land, Hyatt Regency Shanghai has a new hotel bar on the 47th floor called The Bar. From what we've seen, it looks like they've put in more effort than they did in the naming. The views look stunning. Add it to the list of places you'll take out-of-towners to when you're looking to show off.

Casualties

That corner spot we mentioned? It was the one that was previously held by wine spot Enoterra. Did you notice when URVC closed? Like a couple months ago, maybe? I missed it. But it's closed now. Think it was a Latin spot for one hot minute there at the end. RIP, that place. Meanwhile, across town, they're shaking things up at Reel to Reel (same management), centralizing their parties into one room, and opening the decks up to different genres.

The Word Around Town

28-year old overachiever and internationally acclaimed vegan and vegetarian chef superstar Daphne Cheng's Uptown has had its sign go up on Yuyuan Lu, right by The Cannery. Looks like it's going to be a sort of upscale vegan spot. Not vegetarian, actually vegan. Inside will be another place called Daphne. That one's going to be a vegan fine-dining spot. They say the first six weeks of their opening are already booked out. That's all set to come in next month in November. Hip-with-the-kids-club Arkham is opening a quasi-VIP lounge inside their concrete and rebar moshpit called, and I'm loving this, Asylum. I guess The Iceberg Lounge was just too on the nose. Here's the word from the people themselvse;

It's a cozy and solid place to chill and socialize, with well-designed cocktails. The lounge design is different from Arkham, but complimentary. It will offer privacy as well as its own music programming, even when other events are going on in the larger club.

They'll be opening sometime next month, too, keep your eyes on this column, or in general the space where it gets published.

The Happenings

Menus, Deals, Parties, Whatever Hitachino Mansion's holding its official opening party tonight. Kicks off at 7pm. Go check the place out, it's pretty swanky. And hopefully they'll have some badly needed discounts on those beers for the opening. The Bar is kicking itself off tonight with a grand opening party organized by MVP. There's a mandatory dress code, and it's suits. Suits and fancy attire.