★★★★☆

The expat directory Smart Shanghai lists seventy-two Italian restaurants in this city.  Perhaps the talent of my Italian trained chef brother has spoiled me, but out of those seventy-two eateries, I have not found one that has satisfied my need for good Italian food.  Luckily, I have found the seventy-third reason why Italian cuisine is Shanghai’s favorite foreign grub.

Located in the ultra hip 1933 complex in Hongkou, Rosso Italiano is the product of owner Marco Alessi’s vision to create excellent fare.  “I want people to come here for the food,” he told me over my crema di cipolle gratina con crostini (white onion soup with croutons).  “As you can see,” he explained, “The kitchen is the stage.”

It most certainly is.  Two large red doors act as both the canvas to the mural they feature and the curtain to the stage.  When opened, the entire kitchen is revealed, with sous chefs rolling pasta dough, prepping plates, and stirring broths.

The restaurant is still in its refining phase – it is tentatively set to open by January 23, 2010.  For now, they are offering selections to whet patrons’ appetites during their soft opening.  The point of this long soft opening, describes Alessi, is to get people excited about one thing: the food.

Boasting his Bologna heritage to me as soon as my friends and I sat down at our table, the charismatic chef Roberto came out off his stage to explain the lunch menu created by Executive Chef Daniele Priori.  For 88元, we undeniably had the best lunch – and lunch deal – in all of Shanghai today.

I started with the onion soup.  Chef Roberto explained that because he was not satisfied with the quality of chickens found in China, the base of this broth is duck stock.  Even the best French onion soup does not stand a chance against Rosso Italiano’s adaptation.  The sugar from the perfectly caramelized onions accented the richness from the duck stock.  The wheat bread croutons were crisp, and inventively placed on top of the melted fontina.  We are off to a good start.

While mushrooms are extremely easy to find in China, good quality cured and smoked Italian meats are not.  So, I chose the penne speck e funghi (penne with speck and mushrooms) for my entrée.  Seasoned with fresh parsley, the generous portion of mushrooms melted in my mouth.  The flavor of the dried speck highlighted the fruitiness of the quality olive oil used to finish off the dish.

For dinner Rosso Italiano serves freshly made pasta.  Unlike many of the seventy-two other Italian restaurants in Shanghai, efforts to make fresh pasta are taken here because “It represents who we are,” explained Roberto.  To accommodate the rush of the lunch crowd, however, they use high quality dried pasta.

But, it was the dessert that brought the entire meal together.  Taking Roberto’s advice, I had the freshly made apple gelato with a red wine reduction.  It was unlike any gelato I have ever had – the combination of puréed apples with silky cream was reminiscent of an apple cake a la mode.  The only way this possibly could have been better would be to pair it with my pastry chef cousin Emily’s cinnamon gelato.  Nevertheless, the red wine reduction will due for now.

Near perfection for just under $13USD?  Not bad.

• ¥¥ – ¥¥¥¥
• Rosso Italiano Restaurant & Art
• 1933, 1-218, 10 Shajing Lu near Haining Lu
• 电话: +86 021 6513 8708

Found on almost any street at almost any time of day I can find a delicious bowl of noodles.  Whether I am coming in from the night at four in the morning, or seeking a substantial lunch, street noodles are always just around the corner from me.

What I like most about these noodles is not found in the bowl in which they are served.  Instead, I take pleasure in the environment they foster.  Businessmen in tailored suits emerging from glass skyscrapers and college students carrying books from class meet on streets around noontime to wait in line in front of portable noodle stands.  It truly represents the dichotomy of this city: the new colliding with the old, the wealthy converging with the poor, all to enjoy something that every person in this world needs – good food.

What is most refreshing about this experience is how Shanghai has not found a substitute for these stands.  Sure, the west side of Wujiang Lu is a modern homage (or slander) to food streets, but it does not boast noodle carts or even restaurants dishing them out.  For that, you have to go to a street corner, speak a little Chinese (or frantically point), and use splintery wooden chopsticks.

Today’s one-bowl-feast will feature fairly traditional ingredients.  I like my noodles spicy, so I make sure to emphasize that when ordering.  Pickled green beans, scallions, a bit of leafage, and cubes of spam (or, unidentifiable bright pink cubes of meat) accompany the thick round pasta.  And no noodle would be complete without sugar, salt, and of course MSG.

Within a minute, my hot bowl of noodles are dumped into their Styrofoam bowl and tossed into a plastic bag.  I washed mine down with apple juice.  Sitting on the corner of a convenient store, I was joined by two businessmen shoveling theirs down so quickly I don’t think they ever came up for air.

I’m not sure if these are addicting because of their taste or because of the amount of sodium they possess – from the soy sauce or the added MSG or the actual salt – but either way, they are enjoyable.  So, if you need to soak up some liquid from a night out, or if you just need a hearty lunch, walk outside, find a stall, and dump your 4元 into a tin box.