Blooming FED by July will leave you full all year
Conveniently located on Changle Road, FED by July has a discreet entrance. The bamboo-lined corridor leads to the modern restaurant housed in a green-house-like structure.
The design is ultra sleek, minimal, with the use of modern materials like stainless steel and gauze curtains. The restaurant has an open feeling, with sheer curtains dividing tables for a bit of privacy.
July Song, the owner behind FED by July, has years of experience in florist business. She has two flower art shops in the city, under the name “July’s Flower,” famed for its arty and creative floral designs.
Opening the restaurant comes from her philosophy toward life: Bringing flowers and beauty into life.
“Food and wine are the basic enjoyment in our daily life so I would like to integrate my love for flowers into my restaurant, reflected in the designs of the space and creations of dish items,” she said.
However, the flowers are not presented in a cliched way. The floral concept is smartly integrated into the beautiful artworks, the floral installations and the presentations of the food.
The food here is contemporary French with a twist. As most diners are local it seems the designs and tastes of the dishes are more appealing to the Chinese.
The first appetizer I had was King Fish, Crème Fraiche, Lemon, Radish and Raspberry (197 yuan/US$30.11). The presentation gave a wow effect as it’s beautifully plated with the raspberry powder giving a striking color to it. The overall taste was fine yet the chef overused the Crème Fraiche so it didn’t bring out the original flavor of the King Fish carpaccio.
Another appetizer Snails Sausage (137 yuan) was an interesting alternation of the traditional Escargot recipe. The snail meat was wrapped in chicken mousse, with garlic, parsley, asparagus and rosemary. It is generally a dish with the balance of flavors and textures yet with a dash of sea salt it would be more satisfying and covering the earthy tastes of snails. I opted for Cod in Charcoal Batter, eggplant, coriander, coconuts (247 yuan), as the main course that was the most outstanding among all.
Recommended desserts include Banana Caramelized (67 yuan) and Chocolate Feuillantine (87 yuan).