At Cuivre, the menu is a leather-bound iPad and the bread comes in a brown paper bag. These are just two careful details in Michael Wendling’s new restaurant.

Cuivre (French for “copper”) bursts with personality. Copper fixtures emerge from the warm wood and leather interior, there are bikes for sitting at the bar, Easter Island-esque statues congregate in the wine lounge and lights that look like glowing bundles of pasta float above you. The concept is simple southern French food–no foams, no fruit caviars. But it’s Wendling, so simple undersells it somewhat. Ingredients are paired with precision, creating perfect balances of flavor.

We began with a 2006 Sauvignon Blanc from Beaugency (RMB65 per glass) chosen from a French-dominated wine list. The goat cheese salad starter (RMB78) features baby spinach and arugula sourced from the Avocado Lady tossed with a light honey mustard dressing accompanied by toast with three thick pats of melting goat cheese. The flavors are vivid, with the nutty arugula and tender spinach complementing the sweet, herbaceous cheese. The foie gras terrine (RMB98), a generous coin of foie gras marbled with yellow fat, is sublime, served with whole, wine-poached cherries and thin wings of toasted, eggy brioche for loading.

For mains, we chose the risotto with black truffles and shaved Iberico cheese (RMB118). There’s no skimping on the truffle flavor (nor the full cream) and we liked the fresh lemon at the finish. Our other main, the black pig (RMB158), is epic in size and taste. It’s a huge fillet with a rim of crispy fat, the tender meat roasted and doused in fragrant oregano sauce. And it comes with extras: a teacup of silky, whipped butter (mashed potatoes are also somewhere in there) and green lentils. We blissed out. Dessert was daunting on our full bellies, but we pressed on and shared a chilled tart au citron (RMB48) that went down surprisingly easily.

Go, but make reservations. The food will not disappoint.

Our rating: 4.5/5 stars

DETAILS

What: Cuivre

Where: 1502 Huaihai Zhong Lu 淮海中路1502号

Tel: 6437-4219

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