Latin Mania Lands In Shanghai

Unico

With Latin cuisine seriously trending in the culinary world right now, it’s little wonder Michelin-starred Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreco decided to capitalise on the craze with the timely September opening of his enormous cocktail and tapas lounge, Unico. Though they wax lyrical about the venue being a ‘window to the Latin world’, the Marcelo Joulia-designed space doesn’t exactly scream South America in the traditional sense. Instead the highly seductive multi-zone space boasts a chunky marble bar, black and white parquet flooring, colour leather armchairs and rich wooden detailing, and positions itself more as a Latin Cafe Del Mar-meets-mainland dining, drinking and music brand.

Colagreco’s menu is cleverly (or pretentiously, depending on how you look at it) grouped by geographical coordinates, taking diners on a gastronomic road-trip from Pampas, Peru (S-38, W-64) to Patagonia (S-46, W-68) where they can discover oysters with passionfruit and coriander, lamb leg confit with blueberry sauce and manioc chips and much more along the way. The diligently diverse cocktail list slam dunks a maracuya and cayenne pisco sour, jalapeno and chili-infused Carralejo Resposado tequila el picante and a refreshing mango and rosemary take on the Brazilian caipirinha, to name but a few. Throw in a hip-swivelling soul soundtrack, and one of the best looking crowds in town, and after a couple of caipis you’ll swear you’ve blinked and woken up south of the border.