"Three-cup chicken" and Hunan-style spicy pork bones are two signature dishes of Yuan Lu, known for "fushion Shanghainese" cuisine. Photos Provided to China Daily

A Michelin-starred chef from France once told me he thinks Shanghai food is the most "feminine" cuisine he has ever tasted, and this was after his first bite of greasy, meltingly rich red-braised pork, the signature dish of the coastal city's fare.

It is these feminine qualities that came to mind at Yuan Lu, an unpretentious, chic restaurant tucked away on the third floor of a typical Shanghai old city lane house, steps away from the city's bustling Huaihai Lu (Road).

Like a well-educated daughter from an eminent local family, the two-story restaurant is not content with just the typical red-braised pork belly or smoked fish of its hometown. Co-founded by one of the city's most successful fashion designers, Ji Cheng (of La Vie), this all-embracing eatery would like to treat diners with a little bit of Cantonese and a little bit of Hunan cuisine - or, if you want to use the latest buzzword, "fusion Shanghainese".