GIVEN his well- earned reputation as a skilled Asian exponent of modern French cooking, an inevitable sense of anticipation accompanies Singapore chef Justin Quek wherever he opens a new restaurant - and so it is with Le Platane, an upscale culinary venture located on a pleasant tree-lined street in Shanghai's former French Concession.

Le Platane, housed in a magnificent 1920s-era heritage villa beside a man-made lake, is part of the fashionable development known as Xintiandi - New Heaven and Earth - that has become one of the most popular F&B destinations in a city with some 40,000 restaurants.

After a decade as the founding chef at Les Amis, Quek left Singapore in early 2004 to open his own bistro La Petite Cuisine in Taipei. He was then approached by Vincent Lo, the chairman of Hong Kong property group Shui On and developer of Xintiandi, to perform on a far more prominent culinary stage.

Le Platane, which opened five months ago, has ambitions of being the top fine-dining destination in Shanghai. According to some observers, that position is currently occupied by Restaurant Jean-Georges and possibly Laris, the restaurant owned by the Australian chef David Laris.

Like the city itself, the two-storey Le Platane is impressively decked out, combining old-world charm of its architecture with an unmistakable brashness. It is also a dual-concept establishment, with a more casual downstairs restaurant and a formal upstairs space.

The ground floor dining area comprises an elegant brasserie with a suitably sophisticated menu offering caviar and oysters, plus Quek's signature dishes such as egg cocotte with foie gras and roast suckling pig. Prices range from between S$10 and S$20 for starters to about S$50 for mains.

Upstairs, the dining experience is more lavish, featuring a formal classical European ambiance and a separate culinary concept, complete with a fully independent second kitchen where Quek and his assistants prepare indulgent degustation menus. The brasserie seats 70 while the second level can accommodate up to 60 people.

The various upstairs rooms are decorated in a way that would encourage Chinese government officials and well-heeled local businessmen to spend quality time in them. Le Platane is, after all, a high-end establishment that appeals to a certain clientele. 'This is China, not Tokyo or Paris,' says Quek. 'The detailing is going to be different. I didn't want a contemporary look - a lot of Chinese still prefer the slightly heavy style.'

A six-course Le Platane menu is priced at 708 yuan (S$143) while a JQ Classique tasting menu at 928 yuan features prawn tartare with shellfish jelly, swimmer crab with caviar cream, black truffle risotto and wagyu beef.

At a special tasting held recently in the Caviar Room - a private dining area where one wall slides open up to reveal a large viewing window that looks into the kitchen - Quek concocted a customised 10-course menu that was intended to highlight the various high-end ingredients (including truffles, caviar and ceps mushrooms) that he sources from suppliers in places like Yunnan province. Quek says the quality may not quite match that of ingredients from more traditional sources, but is more than acceptable and a lot easier to acquire.

The meal started with a Shanghainese foie gras soup dumpling (xiao long pau), presented in a small wooden steamer - an apt blend of Eastern and Western culinary cultures. This was followed by a crayfish dish with Madeira jelly and foie gras parfait that demonstrated Quek's delicate touch.

Other items included a roulade of salmon with fresh sea urchin, panroasted lobster in vintage Chinese wine, and an artfully presented dish of a variety of vegetables. One of the more memorable dishes was an intensely flavourful herbal beef broth, served in a cappuccino cup. The two mains were a duo of suckling pig and a wagyu beef roll.

Despite the inherent difficulties of operating a restaurant in a country where the concept of fine-dining is still relatively new, Quek's Shanghai adventure is not confined to Le Platane. Next month, he will open Fountain, a casual dining concept in Xintiandi offering what he terms all-day global food ranging from Singaporean and Malaysian favourites to American breakfast and Cantonese specialties. He says that it will be a five-meal restaurant open for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper. 'I want it to be like a canteen for the people who live and work around here,' he says.

Meanwhile, Lo, the Shui On chairman, was so keen on Quek's culinary style that he asked him to take over the management of the Villa du Lac, a formal Chinese restaurant in an even more exquisite heritage building just next door to Le Platane. 'The chairman likes to entertain in style and the restaurant was created for his own entertainment purposes,' says Quek.

Villa du Lac originally featured Yangzhou cuisine, but Quek has since included some Cantonese dishes on the menu. The restaurant is still a work in progress and he is still in the rebuilding stage, he says, adding that he is now in the process of revamping the menu and dealing with staffing issues.

'Yangzhou cuisine is very fine, but it's too bland and perhaps too subtle for Singaporeans,' says Quek. 'The hardware is beautiful, but we are still working on the software - I have a great product and we just need to work very hard to get it right.' He adds, 'We want people who come to Shanghai for fine dining to come here for a unique dining experience.'

Le Platane
373 Huang Pi Nan Lu, near Xing Ye Lu
Shanghai 200021.
China
Tel: +8621 6386 2899.
www.justinquek.com