Mercato’s former executive chef Kelvin Chai has taken his talents from Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Bund-side eatery to the striking new red shopping strip The Roof in Xintiandi where he’s putting his own personal stamp on Italian. Dishes largely identify as modern, open-minded Italian coupled with Chinese characteristics like housemade pastas that feature ravioli filled with shepherd’s purse or a creamy risotto clad with fresh crayfish and a chunk of pan-seared foie gras – plus a strong push to source produce from across country: ma jia gou (a rare celery from Shandong) is spread across a decadent three cheese wood-fired shrimp pizza and glistening-yellow baby cabbage from Yunnan comes served underneath crispy-skinned halibut.
