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[Radar]: Fumo

The guys behind UVA are going all modernist art with a new lounge/wine bar/cocktail lounge concept on Xinle Lu, right downstairs from Lune...
Last updated: 2015-11-09
Area: The confluence of Xinle, Donghu and Fumin Lu. Fumo is in the same building as Lune, just one floor down. Around the corner, of course, is this flashy place that we covered recently. Due south are several hotspots, like Liquid Laundry, Elefante, and Monkey Champagne.

What it is: The latest from Piercarlo Panozzo and Ivan Icardi. A few years back these guys opened Italian wine bar and, more recently, a by the same name.

They're going all modernist with this new wine bar/cocktail lounge/restaurant concept. It's still Italian. The name Fumo is an abbreviation of the word "Futurismo." (like this: Futurismo). Futurismo, or, as English speakers know it, Futurism was an early 20th century art movement that got its start in Italy. It spoke to an era of breakneck modernization and mechanization and explored themes of technology, power, speed, industry, violence etc. But I digress. You can learn more about it here if you're curious.

Much in the way that Futurists were trying to break free from the past, Panozzo and Icardi are trying to break from what we typically expect of Italian restaurants here. They've made it a point to not serve pastas and pizzas. Instead they're going for broader Mediterranean flavors. The menu's focus is shareable dishes, with heavy emphasis on seafood, like mussels sautéed with roast garlic and tomatoes or clams steamed in white wine. You'll also find Italian staples like salumi and cheese plates. They're also doing more substantial meat dishes like a beef short rib slow roasted for over five hours and served with roasted potatoes or an Aussie Angus veal Milanese with a red chili sauce.

Wine is an obvious accompaniment to pretty much all of this, and they're stocking some pretty good juice. The list skews mostly Italian with a broad range of prices. Most of the major regions and varietals enjoy some measure of representation, too.

The third pillar here is cocktails. The list is still a work in progress. On my visit, though, they had most of the classics on offer—negronis, manhattans, martinis. They've snagged a guy from , and they're giving him lots of creative license for a selection of signatures. I got a sneak preview of one the other night, which I quite liked: grappa with limoncello and a little bit of vodka on the rocks.

Atmosphere: The interior is sleek and angular, with buffed concrete floors and lattice pattern of stained 2x4 planks across the ceiling. The austerity of it all is broken up with bright flashes of textiles emblazoned with futurist geometry. Further playing on the theme, the decor is dotted with random engine parts painted in white enamel—a camshaft here, a piston there, the occasional V-6 small block. They're also clearly making a direct appeal to the local market with lots of booth seating around low-slung tables and champagne buckets.

Damage: Small bites start in the mid 50's for assorted seasoned chips and fries up to 95 for a salumi plate. Sharable seafood plates are in the upper 80's and 90's for dishes like smoked salmon or mussels. Meat mains like slow-cooked short rib and wagyu sirloin are in the mid-to-upper 200's. At the time of writing, cocktail prices aren't entirely settled, but expect them to start around 70rmb. You can spend as little or as much as you want on wine here.

Who's going: Sharply-dressed Europeans who smell really nice, at the moment. But it's a good location, I'm sure the core clientele will expand once more people learn about it.

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