NextStep - May 22nd @ 789 Nanjing Lu Bar - Le Royal Meridien.

Featured Guest : Ladi Delano and Matt Reid - The Collection

Hello everyone,

Two weeks have nearly passed and we are heading back to the 789 Bar on the 65th floor of the Le Meridien Hotel for our upcoming NextStep Tuesday on May 22nd from 8 til 10pm.

We are pleased to announce that we will be truly kicking off the "featured guests" concept of NextStep by inviting Ladi Delano, founder of Solid Vodka company, and Matt Reid, the former Marketing Director of Solid Vodka, whom are now the creative masterminds behind The Collection. Please note that our featured guests do not make speeches; even better, they mix and move amongst the members and you will be able to personally pick their brains.

Of course, their experiences do not begin or end there, as their attention is now focused on the concept establishment, The Collection: a seamless merging of Pure, a contemporary Japanese restaurant; Sugar, China's first dessert parlour; and Sugarcube, a sophisticated club/lounge for fashionistas and business stars of Shanghai. The Collection is slated to open Mid-July and is the most high-profile and public facing of ongoing investments through Matt and Ladi's company, Lama: Property, Investments, and Innovation.

We will see you out on Tuesday for what should be a great event.

Come mingle with our featured guests as well as many other aspiring
entrepreneurs at Le Meridien's 789 Bar perched 65 floors above Shanghai.

NextStep Organizers

Event Details :

Tuesday the 22nd of May.
From 8 to 10 pm @ 789 Nanjing Lu Bar
65/F Le Royal Meridien Hotel.
789 Nanjing East Road.
上海市南京东路789好65楼

Inquiry :
shgbiz@gmail.com

More informations about Ladi Delano and Matt Reid :

The Collection:

The Collection is set to become an oasis of cool for the affluent and fashion-aware young Shanghai urban aristocracy. The design is quirky and thoughtful, and the concept includes a contemporary Japanese restaurant, Pure, and China’s first dessert parlour, Sugar. In the nighttime, Sugar becomes Sugarcube: After dark, a sophisticated lounge and club for the fashionistas and business stars of the city.

The Collection will be opening in early June

An Entrepreneurial Dream

The Collection is the brainchild of Shanghai based entrepreneurs, Ladi Delano and Matt Reid.

Ladi Delano, despite his young age, is already a successful serial entrepreneur. He set up his first company while still at school; a careers magazine focusing on students of various ethnic minorities. After that, he founded the highly successful Solid Vodka company, which is now the largest selling vodka in Shanghai and the third largest selling vodka in China. It has a huge presence in the bar and nightclub industry and is affiliated with party going young Shanghainese as well as the expatriate market. Matt was Ladi’s Marketing Director at Solid Vodka and helped to built the brand into the position it is in today, he has also run two successful events and marketing companies in the UK.

Both Matt and Ladi are now focusing on their company, Lama: Property, Investments, and Innovations, which is operating largely in the real estate sector. The Collection is the most high-profile and public facing of their ongoing investments.

• What is the Collection?

The Collection is a dining and entertainment venue consisting of three unique venues;

Pure: Contemorary Japanese Cuisine
Sugar: Dessert Parlour
SugarCube: After Hours

The Collection is set to become an oasis of cool for the affluent and fashion-aware young Shanghai urban aristocracy. The design is quirky and thoughtful, and the concept includes a contemporary Japanese restaurant, Pure, and China’s first dessert parlour, Sugar. In the nighttime, Sugar becomes Sugarcube: After dark, a sophisticated lounge and club for the fashionistas and business stars of the city.

• Where is The Collection?

The Collection is located across three floors of a historic building in the famous lifestyle district Xintiandi, in Shanghai.

• What’s the exact address of The Collection?

Xintiandi,
488 Huangpi Nan Lu,
Lane 18,
Cross-street Taicang lu

• When is The Collection opening?

Mid-July – fingers crossed!

• What’s the website?

l www.thecollectionsh.com

• What’s the number for reservations or information?

Before June 11th – 5446 7990 (Lama Office)
After June 11th – 5351 0007

• So what is Pure then?

Pure is a contemporary Japanese restaurant open for lunch and dinner. At lunch time we have an affordable menu of bento boxes, salads and other quick eats. For the longer business lunch we also have much of our dinner menu available.

For dinner, our chef Max Levy, who has previously been at Sushi Yasuda, Megu and the Tasting Room in New York, I an expert in real Japanese food. No wasabi and chili mayo phili rolls here! He is obsessive about the freshest ingredients and traditional Japanese flavors presented in a modern way. He once spent six months on an eel farm and is an expert in eel dishes. He even sources his fresh wasabi from Yunan and grates it straight on to every plate before serving. He will be presenting sashimi, sushi, yakitori (grilled food) eel dishes and a selection of hot and cold specials. He will also have a daily chef’s selection for those who want to dine on the very finest and most innovative cuisine. Well trained staff will be on hand at all times to illuminate the world of Japanese cuisine.

Along with the food, a full range of red and white wines, sakes, and Japanese-inspired cocktails will be available.

All the action is visible with the open kitchen and chef’s table. The action complements the otherwise calming and peaceful interior.

Don’t forget the bathrooms also. You can really see that every tiny little detail of the customer experience is considered when you walk through out Tokyo Fish Market passage into the bathrooms, which are decorated by our very own Captain Pure comic strip, created by the Marvel Comics team in New York.

• Tell me more, Sugar…

Sugar is China’s first dessert parlour and bar. Anthony Qin, our dessert chef, is one of the hottest young things in the world of puddings in China. He was number one in the China Chocolate Master Cup and will represent China in Paris in October. He also won the Gold at the Asian Pastry Cup in Singapore for best Sugar showpiece and a whole range of other accolades. He’s born and bred in Shanghai.

His desserts will range from homely favorites remembered from childhoods across the globe to spectacularly beautiful artistic creations for those ladies who want to look gorgeous while maintaining their figures.

There is a permanent menu for favorites complete with dessert cocktails from Theo, our Beverage Director. There is also a daily specials menu for those delights created each morning. Everything available is made fresh on site. Even the ice-cream. You can see the team working in the transparent dessert kitchen inside the space itself.

The interior of the space is white and feminine. A spectacular dessert conveyor belt completes the decadent experience. The belt conveys the desserts through to Cube, and onwards to the outside terrace if you so require.

• So what’s all this about a club then?

SugarCube happens when Sugar, the dessert parlour, and Cube, the brother to Sugar, become one and lock down for a night of great eclectic music from our Music Director. Throughout both spaces we feature cocktail creations from Theo Watt, our beverage director poached fresh from the W in Sydney. He creates such wonders as the Vanilla Passion, made especially to complement Anthony’s fantasies in Sugar. His passion however, is the classic art of mixology. Theo is a cocktail historian and has been known to talk about one brand of rum for 30 minutes straight. If he doesn’t know it, it’s not worth knowing…

Of course, a club is hardly a club without a beautiful terrace in Shanghai, and we have two. Choose the view over Xintiandi’s historic Shikumen houses and their throng of buzzing Shanghai crowds, or the peaceful and picturesque view out over the romantic sight of the Xintiandi Lake.

• How big is The Collection?

The capacity of The Collection is;

	Seated	Standing	Area
Pure	110	n/a	400 sqm
Sugar	40	50	90 sqm
Cube	45	30	80 sqm
Cube (terrace)	20	100	100 sqm
Total	215	180	670 sqm
	Total	395

• Who is the team made up of?

Matt Reid – Managing Partner
Assitant to Matt – April Wang
Ladi Delano – Partner
Assitant to Ladi – Yvonne Sun
Malcom Wood - Partner
Theo Watt – Beverage Director
Caroline Rowe – Marketing Director
Vianne Ji - Marketing Manager (Chinese language)
Max Levy- Chef
Ayu Pan – Assitant to the chef
Onno Schreur - GM
Shirley Yuan – Office Assitant
Anthony Qin – Pastry Chef
Lucien – Pastry Sous Chef
Jana Tomasoviciva – Retail Manager
Lena Boyce – Retail Assitant Manager