French and Asian cuisine come Together perfectly
YUYUAN Road, the section between Zhenning Road and Wulumuqi Road, was always a quiet and residential area until recently when a mix of foodies, well-dressed city dwellers showed up to wine and dine at Together, a newly opened restaurant with a smart but homely feel.
The interior design is the brainchild of renowned design firm Neri&Hu, and as for the food, expect perfectly created dishes made from high-quality produce using innovative methods. Dynamic young chef Bina Yu heads the kitchen. She came to Shanghai four years ago to create and take over Chi-Q, an innovative Korean restaurant with a twist of her own. It was there she brought her home country’s strong culinary culture and lifted it with the intent of raising it to a new international dimension. At Together, she brings the best of both Eastern and Western cuisines.
“It’s not traditional French dining but I use mostly French techniques but with Asian influences. We wanted to create a restaurant that everybody comes to and enjoys together,” Yu said.
The contemporary, relaxed design space is divided into a dining space for more intimate conversations and a bar table facing the open kitchen where Together expects its guests to look inside, toward the kitchen where the chefs work their magic.
“Since it was the first restaurant out of the Jean Georges Group, I had to set up almost everything myself. Setting up the kitchen, recipes and training cooks. It was not easy at the beginning specially I lost two sous-chefs and two cooks at the same time during soft opening,” Yu said.
However, everything eventually turned out fine despite the challenges at the beginning. For Yu, it is essential to be open to new ideas and it helps to give a sense of place to the food and the dining experience.
My dining experience at Together started with the two best-seller appetizers: Australian wagyu beef tartar with egg yolk, kimchi and garlic bread crisp (138 yuan), and octopus with
(a Korean fermented condiment), crunchy crumbs and aioli (118 yuan).
Both were so well executed and revealed a minor touch of unexpected ingredients, such as kimchi or
which was enough to surprise. Although the recipes are simple, timing is crucial and the right proportion of different ingredients made both dishes outstanding.
The mains are divided into seafood and meat and all come in one or two portions. Pan seared snapper with basilshallot oil and yuzu (148 yuan/288 yuan) and New Zealand lamb chop with mint chimichurri and mushroom sauce (148 yuan/288 yuan) are recommended.
Coming to Together is like having an unhurried dinner at home with friends and it’s this very casual experience that the customers might enjoy.