The Place 

Despite housing more than 7,000 coffee shops (the most in one city in the entire world!), Shanghai – and specifically the Xinle/Donghu Lu intersection – saw the soft opening last month of another coffee-centric venue, Crave Café & Wine Bar, by chef Holly Lian (CouCou). Crave currently offers coffee, wine, pastries and simple lunch fare, but will expand into dinner at the end of the month. 

Partnering up with Olivia Xu (Holly’s old classmate from French pastry school) and sommelier Yannick De Brouwer (previously of RAC), the three decided to put their specialties together in one space, with an added emphasis on music.

The back of the roughly 20-person venue houses a full DJ booth, along with six surround-sound speakers and a high-tech sound system you would expect to find in a club rather than a café. 

The goal is to kickstart more music events, along with extended nighttime hours and rotating DJs to “break the musical routine,” says De Brouwer, a side-hustle DJ. “This is not for clubbing, or even really for dancing; the focus is all about good wine, good food and good music. Simple as that.”

The Food 

The food centers around daytime café eats – baked-daily pastries, Instagrammable sandwiches, brunch plates and the like. It’s a lot of carbs but also a lot of cute. 

The baked goods counter is the true eye-catcher that reels you in upon entering. Fluffy pillows of sugar-laden treats are piled high while decadently frosted cakes and tarts line the countertop. 

The warm, yeasty aroma of freshly-baking bread mingles with the smell of treacly pastry glazes wafting through the small window leading to the back kitchen – confusing your senses, and causing you to purchase enough carbohydrates to feed a small army. 

A textbook perfect croissant is upgraded, as the Banana Croissant (RMB22), with the addition of sugary butter crumble and a stuffing of baked banana slivers. And a customarily Italian dessert is reinvented as the Tiramisu Danish (RMB25) when piped onto a flaky Danish, encasing a coffee-laced caramel spread. Our only grievance – we want to taste the coffee more in something that calls itself tiramisu, especially when served at a coffee shop. 

Swirling whorls of sugar-coated dough form the tightly spiraled Cinnamon Roll (RMB25), one that stands true to its name in the quantity of cinnamon spice adorning every possible millimeter of the pastry’s surface area. 

Carrot Cake (RMB38)

To balance the sugar overload, third-wave coffee drinks are on offer, with beans hailing from Yunnan, Ethiopia and Papa New Guinea. Coffee drinks are on the pricier side, but for the heart of expat-landia, it’s about what you would expect.

A flat white goes for RMB34, a cappuccino for RMB36 and a mocha for RMB38. The menu also showcases Homemade Sodas (RMB36) – like cucumber melon, mango jasmine and apple mint – fresh-pressed Juices (RMB38) and Homemade Ice Tea (RMB38). 

The alcohol side of things is mainly wine, with a strong emphasis on natural and organic styles, De Brouwer’s personal preference. We noticed a lot of French wines, but not specifically limited to any one wine-producing region. 

You’ll find high drinkability, interesting labels for sharing with friends, with most bottles falling in the range of RMB300-900. Wine can also be purchased by the glass. For the non-wine drinkers (gasp! Do you really exist?) there’s also Belgian beer, a few basic cocktails, chupitos and European aperitifs and digestifs. 

If it’s a proper meal you’re after, the Morning Sandwich (RMB58) is a popular shout. A sunny-side up egg, Canadian bacon, sliced avocado, dried tomatoes and a generous drizzling of spicy mayo are all served on your choice of a croissant, bun or thick-cut toast. 

The Steak Sandwich (RMB78) is even more substantial with – you guessed it – cooked medium steak, confit potatoes, cornichons, caramelized onions, a zippy garlic mayo and parmesan cheese shavings that seem to coat every savory dish on the menu.

Nothing wrong with that, just an interesting tactic. Parmesan cheese aside, potatoes and steak can never have too much salt – that’s a fact of life. Sadly, in this case, too little made for a blander sando than we would have hoped for. 

In addition to sandwiches, there are four brunch plates – Sausage, Beef Bavette, Vegetarian Tortilla and Ham Tortilla (RMB78-108). The plates come with an assortment of balsamic-dressed salad, avocado, bacon, baked veggies, fried eggs and your choice of bread. 

We saw a preview of the dinner menu – it’s tight, about 12 items – and focuses on fresh ingredients presented on small plates meant for sharing and pairing with wine – mostly European fusion with Chinese influence. Think Iberico pork croquettes, spicy shrimp, pesto burrata with gnocchi, beef tartare, steaks…the usual wine fare. 

The Vibe 

The space is airy and inviting. Mirrored walls reflect the blooming plane trees outside, creating the feeling of being inside of a living terrarium. Light wood, white framing and simple folding chairs add to the casual, welcoming vibe, encouraging customers to pull out their laptops and hang for a while. 

Plus, the sun-bathed patio makes for an ideal people watching perch, with a never-ending flow of coffee into wine to fuel your wandering mind (and roving eyes).

We see this remaining a trendy spot, from daytime and into the night, with a vibe similar to nearby Bird and Bitter – understated, exclusive and chic. Expect a lot of selfies and aspiring Dianping KOLs. 

Price: RMB135-350
Who’s Going: Café-goers, carbo-loaders, day-time daters, tai-tais
Good For: Catching up on work (aka people watching), casual day drinking, sipping wine and consuming pastries simultaneously 

Crave Café & Wine Bar, 218 Xinle Lu, by Donghu Lu, 新乐路218号, 近东湖路.