Picnicking in New York City’s lush and wild Central Park, road tripping through mountain landscapes, toasting marshmallows over a campfire – it’s hard not to be jealous of these ‘slow living’, close-to-nature moments popping up on your Instagram or WeChat feeds.
It’s a trending lifestyle across the globe – from Europe to Shanghai. Younger generations are choosing fresh fruit and vegetables over meat, quality over low prices, working out over TV on the couch. It’s exactly the GREEN & SAFE ethos.
Complementing the much-loved original location on Dongping Lu, Takashimaya Store in Gubei and Xintiandi’s concept store THE BARN, GREEN & SAFE is bringing a whole new experience to Hongqiao. LE PETIT is an organic, healthy ‘picnic garden restaurant’ concept, perfect for families showcasing ingredients and products parents can place 100 percent faith in.
Farm to table
GREEN & SAFE’s brand philosophy is ‘farm to table’. Seven years ago the team started its own organic farms in Kunshan, guaranteeing there’s no oxytocin or growth-promoting agents, no chemical fertilizers, no use of pesticides. It may take longer to grow food in this way but it means they’re nutrient rich and, most importantly, more delicious.
The picnic garden restaurant
Green moss springs out of the cracks in the doorframe you enter through. The picnic theme of LE PETIT blends the leisurely market feel of GREEN & SAFE Dongping Lu and the serene atmosphere of THE BARN in Xintiandi. Illustrations from a young Taiwanese artist Chen Shuli brighten up the walls. In the middle of the dining area is a sunken garden, laid with sod and with four three-metre-tall trees. With the soft light and pale wood furniture, it’s the makings of a lazy afternoon. Just close your eyes, you can almost feel the breeze blowing.
Seasonally changing menu
LE PETIT’s kitchen is seasonally based, with a changing menu every two months. In June you’ll find fresh mango, in July dew-speckled blueberries. The salad bar is case in point. If you want to know what’s in season, stop by the six-metre long salad bar. All salads are made to order. Water for drinking and kitchen use has been run through a bamboo charcoal filter and purification system and after washing, the ingredients are used within four hours to make sure absolutely fresh. Try a ‘Super salad’, the summer special ‘Organic Green Salad With Seasonal Figs’, the protein-rich ‘Succotash Quinoa' or the ‘BOLAN’S Thai Aubergine Salad with Grilled Prawns’ which is made by the team at Bangkok restaurant BOLAN, number 19 on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list.
Opening special: Yunnan wild mushrooms
LE PETIT’s opening period is during Yunnan wild mushroom season. During August, try special dishes made with matsutake like ‘Roasted Wild Matsutake & Porcini Mushroom Linguine’ and ‘Roasted Wild Matsutake & Porcini Mushroom Pizza’, available only in The Hub location.
Kids’menus so good even ‘kidults’ will want it
We all want our kids to eat safe food. LE PETIT offers four ‘all-safe children’s menu’ sets: Western-style pasta, sandwiches, Asian-flavoured rice balls and Japanese omelette rice. Each nutrition-rich set comes with vegetable sticks, a mixed fruit cup and a glass of juice.
‘SANTE’: the Healthy Drink Car
‘Sante’ means ‘drink up’ in French, with origins meaning ‘wish you health’. LE PETIT’s SANTE dining car juice stand offers three kinds of healthy cold-pressed drinks: homemade nut milk, vegetable juice and Chinese compound drinks – all free of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, flavours, or synthetic pigments.
Grocery
LE PETIT is not only a restaurant, but also a little supermarket. Fresh fruits and vegetables are piled in wooden boxes; imported spices from the East and West line the shelves; high-quality meat can be found deep in the freezer. The market has over 400 kinds of exclusive goods – you can buy everything from pasta and pre-prepared soup to canned tuna in virgin olive oil blended with three different organic olive flavours.
Shanghai TEAMLAB 'Sketch' Aquarium
GREEN & SAFE is collaborating with creative team TEAMLAB to present a high-tech ‘sketch aquarium’. TEAMLAB brings together artists, animators, mathematicians, architects, web and graphic designers and editors, and their work has been exhibited internationally. Spend 150RMB at LE PETIT and kids and parents can experience this unique ‘sketch aquarium’ on a six-metre long screen for free. Draw your fish, scan it and upload to the screen to see it swimming around.
