Eatery incorporates elements of library, museum

Dining at Light and Salt restaurant is like wandering in a museum and library.

Is Light and Salt a restaurant? Yes and no — it's also a library, museum and even a cultural travel destination, depending on how you look at it.

Customers dine in an area much like a museum, presenting the life of 1920s Shanghai in vintage art pieces and crafts and also shelves of antique books.

They can have a drink in a library that has a collection of spirits dating from the early 1900s to the 1970s, with each bottle served with a vintage book published in the same year. Chef Rafael Qing also uses his food to tell the history of the building where the restaurant is located.

The name and dining concept comes from Matthew 5:13-14 in the Bible, which says, "You are the salt of the earth ... You are the light of the world," Restaurateur Ethan Tian compares light to culture and salt to life to express the intrinsic relationship between the two.

The menu combines classical European with Shanghai da cai — a distinctive food category that started in the 1930s, when European food was adapted to local palates.

The building, mixing Art Deco with traditional Chinese elements, dates from 1933 and originally was the site of the YWCA (Chinese Young Women's Christian Association), the birthplace of Chinese women's rights movement, which was supported by many Western-educated Chinese women, including Soong Mei-ling, wife of former Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek.

The restaurant's Russo-Shanghai soup, a classical local adaptation of Russian borscht, is a highlight. Flavorful hot broth is poured over braised beef, vegetable terrine and beetroot foam. Deep-fried pork chops served with Worcestershire sauce also is worth a try.

Their dessert crepes mix French and Shanghainese cuisine. The crepes are made in the shape of a Shanghai shaomai, a kind of wrapped dumpling with a flowery shape on top. Four different flavors — green tea, classic, berry and chocolate — are served in one dish.

Don't miss their chocolate lava cake, which is served with walnut-flavored Shanghai bing gao (Shanghai-style ice cream, with a texture slightly coarser than the Western version, and less sweet).

If you're not a fusion lover, foie gras is recommended — it is accompanied by cognac jelly and Armagnac glaze, and features balance and complexity. Homemade pasta and rib eye steak are both safe options.

Tian, one of the first certified sommeliers in China, has a huge collection of fine wine with around 200 varieties. Besides Bordeaux first growth and Napa cult wines, they include some from little-known boutique wineries worldwide, and offer good value.

The owner's collection of books in the library/bar features art, design and literature genres. Customers can buy books they like, except for the ones that are part of the owner's antique collection.

The library even has a librarian providing bibliotherapy, tailoring a book list, for example, for those suffering from stress and anxiety.

Address: 6/F, 133 Yuanmingyuan Rd

Tel: 6361-1086