May-May's Diary
Entry for March 08, 1999
Boys and girls! Ali YY's, Kenny Tang's restaurant on Dongping Lu, opened with a total blow-out party last Saturday night, with an open bar that wasn't as open as it perhaps could have been, but a crowd that filled the two-storey joint to the rafters. The revellers were later bussed to the Nanchang Lu YY's "gu ju" for a continuation of the party in the now-traditional Shanghai weekend style. Ali's features food in a brace of flavors-Mediterranean and Xinjiang. Manager Zainil presides benignly over both. Good luck, Zainil! Save a table for me!!!
Luigi's Trattoria restaurant in the Central Building (Zhonghui Dasha) on Henan Lu held a Women's Day special on March 8 - a free buffet for one of every pair of ladies who showed up. It's Luigi's way of honoring the ladies of Shanghai. "Some people say they are sweet, some say they are sour, but they are certainly ready for anything," he said.
I scored what was possibly a first in Shanghai the other night. I got into a taxi and while discussing the state of the universe with the driver as usual discovered that he would take a Visa credit card in payment of the fare, It turned out he'd never actually done it, but said he was one of a handful of taxi drivers chosen for a trial run. Between us, I finally figured out how to use the plastic card machine, and history was perhaps made with a transaction consummated on JinIing Lu, last Sunday night. If anyone can prove they paid for a cab fare in the city before that date using a credit card, I'll buy the first-comer a drink.
The Fest Brew German beer hall cum Chinese restaurant on Hankou Lu close to the Bund is closed for renovations. It appears that it will remain as a beerhall, although I'll have to wait until mid-March to find out what other changes are in store for this venerable eatery. The combination of Chinese food and German microbrewed beer is a successful one, strange it hasn't been tried anywhere else.
Byeeeee!!!
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