Pane e Vino still serves up Italian classics
Pane e Vino is one of the few long-standing Italian restaurants in Shanghai.
A perennial favorite among both expats and locals, the restaurant opened its doors in 2006 on Maoming Road S. and moved to the current location inside Sinan Mansions in 2012.
I hadn’t been back to Pane e Vino since my last visit 13 years ago and decided to give a try, again.
Housed in one of the Western-style mansions that have witnessed the history of the city, Pane e Vino gives out a warm, homey environment with its warm yellow walls and wooden window frames. The interior’s pleasant, easy-going look offers a more livable alternative to the minimalist, trendy style popular in recent years.
Beef carpaccio
While quite a few Italian restaurants in town fall into the fine-dining category, Pane e Vino has served consistent, high-quality Italian fare with very reasonable prices for 16 years.
Simple and unaffected, mouthwatering and irresistible, the food here represents traditional food as it is cooked in Italy today. Most of the classic recipes are featured here, from a variety of pasta dishes, pizzas to the mains.
I started off my dinner with sharing appetizers. The sliced veal laced in a tuna sauce garnished with black olives was the most popular one among diners here. It is a classic recipe from Piemonte, a renowned wine region famous for its Barolo and Barbaresco. The boneless cut of boiled veal served with the heavenly sauce made of tuna, egg, anchovy, capers was a well-executed dish ideal for sharing.
appardelle tossed with scallops laced in a truffle cream sauce
The pastas are the highlights and also the reason I came back. Pasta is the heart of Italian cooking and the many pasta recipes here are worth trying out.
The most popular pasta here is the pappardelle tossed with scallops laced in a truffle cream sauce that screams satisfaction and decadence. I recommend this pasta during colder season because of the heavy cream sauce. The gnocchi in a mushroom and gorgonzola cheese sauce is another plate featuring little pillows of heaven with a creamy, decadent cheese sauce that one will end dreaming about.
Grilled salmon fillet with saffron sauce.
Linguine with garlic, olive oil, fresh clams, white whine and cherry tomatoes is the classic recipe Pane e Vino known for. It still tastes exactly like I tasted it 13 years ago. However, all the pastas tend to be a bit oily thanks to the chef’s generous use of olive oil.
For the mains, try Osso Buco, the classic braised veal recipe from northern Italy. The veal is fall-off-the-bone tender thanks to the long, slow cooking time. It is served with the saffron risotto that is equally divine.
Info
Opening hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10pm
Tel: 5465-2177
Address: Bldg 1-2, 47 Sinan Rd
Average price: 350 yuan (US$53.49)
