concept
A Quirky Little Restaurant
Hidden from sight down a side street off Changshu Road is the latest creation of David Laris and his team, The Purple Onion, a new funky and quirky Mediterranean Restaurant endowed with its own bakery.
The space has a cool eccentric offbeat look. Three different areas to suit everybody’s mood: the intimate dining area in contemporary style, the sleek, sophisticated and sexy bar soon to be a models heaven (haven?) serving timeless European classic cocktails and the sunny petite alfresco terrace, so appealing in Shanghai’s balmy evenings.
For a long time David Laris has wanted to bring to Shanghai the classy flavourful food of Southern Europe. Finally The Purple Onion has it all. The essence of its dishes is Spanish, Italian and Greek with some North African influence, with “agrodolce” as the leitmotiv of all dishes. Executive Chef, Lex Hauser heads up the kitchen and brings the food to life as conceptualized by David Laris.
The Purple Onion will surprise you with its “Grazing Menu” (all day available small bites such as Portobello mushrooms and marinated anchovies) and the cold cut table with (unheard of in Shanghai) a choice of Spanish and Italian hams, French farmhouse cheeses and authentic thin crust pizzas of irregular shapes.
The Purple Onion wines list is rich but unconventional; you will find precious limited edition vintages and amazing new proposals from young unknown wine makers.
The “Aperitivo” style cocktail list is an old school cocktails manifesto showcasing some rare vintage Spanish recipes.
Last but not least, we suggest the Mediterranean homemade gelatos and the splendid selection of Italian coffees.