Biography





The Chef

Chef de Cuisine, Partner – Founder

Ultraviolet / Mr & Mrs Bund / Polux  / Charbon

 

Born and trained in France, Paul Pairet runs three restaurants of different natures in Shanghai: Timeless seafood and steak house “Mr & Mrs Bund”, French café  “Polux”, casual eatery “Charbon”, and avant-garde and experimental “Ultraviolet” – which has received 3 Michelin stars since 2017 and was in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2015-2021.

 

Pairet first came of notice at Paris’s Cafe Mosaic, where the influences of his wandering career – by that point, Hong Kong, Sydney, and Jakarta – began to crystallize into a French-but-not-French style all his own.

 

Critics talked of Mosaic and of Alain Ducasse’s Spoon in equal terms.  In fact, Pairet’s cooking at Mosaic made such an impression on Ducasse that it was the master chef himself who subsequently plucked Pairet out and arranged his next move: Istanbul.  Pairet then took his talents to the Ritz-Carlton’s Cam, where he turned the hotel outfit into the city’s first cutting-edge restaurant.  He was to repeat the task in Shanghai.

 

Pairet came to the city in 2005 to open Jade on 36, the flagship restaurant of the Shangri-La Hotel Pudong. Under his guidance and in three years only, he staked out an international reputation for his “highly personal and completely original cuisine: often exaggerated, highly technical plays on texture, temperature, and preconceived expectations”.

 

Where Pairet had formed the vocabulary – surprise, precision, wit, reduction – the years at Jade on 36 saw him develop these into a fluent, singular cuisine that spoke on many levels. His food started conversations, inspired articles and collected awards. Jade on 36 became not another hotel restaurant, but a “beacon for sophisticated, avant-garde cuisine in Asia”, and a destination for many.

 

Cooking, in part, to provoke and challenge, Pairet elicited ecstatic guest response from the moment Jade on 36 opened. The sentiment that his food was both exceptionally unique and essentially delicious echoed in media. His rejection of rigid culinary convention won over gourmands and went to scoop numerous honors and awards, while his cuisine was profiled internationally.

 

Recent years have seen Pairet circle the earth to present his unique vision at gatherings of the world’s culinary heavyweights. From San Sebastian’s Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia (The Best of Gastronomy) in 2007, Madrid Fusion in 2008 – where, at both, Pairet was the sole Asia-based chef invited to speak; the World Gourmet Summit 2008 in Singapore; the participation in 2009 in the most acknowledged and cosmopolitan “Guest Chef Concept” by Ikarus of Hanger-7 Salzburg; the Omnivore Food Festival in Pairs and Shanghai along the years; to Identità Golose Milan Congress in 2017, Pairet continues to share with no reservations his belief and study in food.

 

In April 2009 Pairet brought to Shanghai “Mr & Mrs Bund”.  This neo-classic French eatery perched on the historic Bund, more significantly, is a quite different expression of the chef’s passion.

 

The theme this time is simplicity and popularity, a democratic flourish that embraces French and gloabl classics.  Pairet has never been two things: 1. A stranger to simple, popular dishes, and 2. Easy to classify. With Mr & Mrs Bund, Pairet has tailored a populist concept of sharing simple & well-executed dishes to both critical and popular success. It is French, in the way Pairet himself is — born, traveled, globally stamped, and stubbornly perfectionist.

 

Within four months of opening, That’s Shanghai declared Mr & Mrs Bund the “Best French” restaurant in the city. Since then, it has gone on collecting a slew of awards and international accolades, including No. 43 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2013 and being among Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants from 2013 to 2016.

 

This retro, timeless eatery was a u-turn for the “Avant-Garde” chef – until Ultraviolet opened.

 

Conceived by Pairet since 1996 and supported by his long-time back-up VOL Group, Ultraviolet is the first restaurant of its kind attempting to unite food with multi-sensorial technology, in order to create a fully immersive dining experience.

 

Ultraviolet project was first presented to the world in 2010 Omnivore Food Festival in Deauville. After 3 years of making, it opened in May 2012, somewhere in Shanghai.

 

A single table of 10, a 20-course avant-garde set menu, 5 senses. Supported by the multi sensorial technologies, each course is enhanced with its own taste-tailored atmosphere, including visual, audio and olfactory compositions. Almost instantly, Ultraviolet wows Shanghai, and has been blessed with passionate reviews from the diners, trade and critics, and described as “the best dining experience ever”.

 

Ultraviolet has caused quite a stir in the culinary world.  It was one of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants from 2013 to 2022, and of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants from 2015 to 2021.  It became the 2nd restaurant from Mainland China, right after Mr & Mrs Bund’s entry into the list in 2013.
Since September 2017 Ultraviolet has been awarded 3 Michelin stars by Shanghai Michelin Guide; it was shortlisted in The World’s Greatest Places in 2018 by TIME.

 

March 2019 marked the birth of Polux – Pairet’s first “simple” all-day joint, in the heart of lifestyle hub Xintiandi.

Polux is a French café, a bar, a bistro with a terrace; a hangout to drop-in for a hearty brunch, all day munchies and cozy dinner. No fuss, no rush – just basics done with Pairet’s touch and stripped to the core.
“Eternally untrendy and forever in fashion”, Pairet described.  It has been listed as Bib Gourmand by Michelin Guide Shanghai since 2019, 6 months after opening.

 

The latest Charbon was opened in October 2022, a very casual place featuring open-fire BBQ and artisanal soft-serve ice creams.  Mono-product-skewers, simply seasoned and charred; and wash it down with freshly churned, mix-and-match sundaes.  It has spontaneously become a wonderland of fire and ice.

 

Recognized for his “talent, innovation and contribution to Asia’s restaurant industry”, Pairet received the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award by 2013 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Voted for by fellow chefs on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list, Pairet earned the respect of his peers and was given the 2016 “Chefs’ Choice” Award. “Provocative and innovative, his creative flair, daring experimentation and inspired dishes continue to influence chefs around the world.

His recent accolades include Restaurateur of the Year 2018 by Les Grandes Tables du Monde, and The World’s 50 Most Influential French People 2019 by Vanity Fair France.
He is one of the juries and mentors in France’s Top Chef since 2020.

 

No matter it’s for the self-assured fun dining, the personal originality, or the essential causal fares, Pairet could be “turbulent, unpredictable, unconventional” for many in the culinary world. “In the end”, says Pairet, “It is the feeling, emotion that evoked by the dish that counts.”


Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet
www.uvbypp.cc
Mr & Mrs Bund – Seafood & Steak House by Paul Pairet
www.mmbund.com
Polux – French Cafe by Paul Pairet
www.poluxbypp.com
Charbon – BBQ & Sundaes by Paul Pairet
www.charbonbypp.com


WHAT OTHERS SAID

 

Hidden away in an old shanghai neighborhood is arguably one of the most innovative restaurants in the world. (…) it was a revelation for all senses, and an immersive dining adventure

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Aug 2016

 

Paul Pairet, l’étoile montante de la gastronomie à shanghai. Il est aujourd’hui, avec deux restaurants –Mr & Mrs Bund et Ultraviolet – le chef le plus respecté de la ville.

The Good Life (France), November 2016

 

Ce chef français a ouvert à Shanghaï un restaurant singulier, Ultraviolet, sans équivalent sur la planète gastronomique.

Sébastien Falletti, Le Figaro, Dec 2016

 

Provocative and innovative, his creative flair, daring experimentation and inspired dishes continue to influence chefs around the world.

Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, 2016

 

In Shanghai, a table serving only ten guests is now the centrepiece of one of the most extraordinary dining experiences anywhere on the planet.

Four Magazine, 2015

 

Paul Pairet breaks the rules, has fun in reinventing the meal, update the social concept of food, and keeps on climbing to the top of the most incredible chefs of his time.

Alice Béguet, Le Figaro, Feb 2012

 

When Ultraviolet finally opened, it was one of the very few restaurants in the history of gastronomy that truly made a difference (…) It is the first gesamtkunstwerk in modern gastronomy. 

Felix Hirsch, QLI, Feb 2014

 

Ultraviolet is certainly much more than a restaurant. This is a unique tasting getaway magnified by digital technology. A moment where time stops. (…) the illumination from Paul Pairet is, by itself alone, worth the trip.

Thibaut Danancher, Le Point, Oct 2013

 

It was the most unbelievable meal i have ever had, with wildly inventive dishes that were never inventive just for the sake of invention.

Cindy Chupack, Afar, Dec 2013

 

With sights, sounds, scents and a secret location, chef Paul Pairet’s immersive dining experience could be the next great leap in culinary evolution.

Howie Kahn, T of The New York Times, Aug 2013

 

Pairet’s Ultraviolet, an incredible psycho-gustative odyssey (…) one of the most experimental and challenging, one of the most fun and accomplished.

Claudio Grillenzoni, Identita Golose (Italy), Jun 2013

 

Ultraviolet finally breaks the rules, reinvents the restaurant, not to mention the cuisine. (…) this crazy work on rhythm, image, surprise, a complete rewrite of what can be the hospitality, the service, the cuisine of the 21st century.  

Luc Dubanchet, Omnivore (France), Winter 2012

 

The dishes’ conception is frequently playful and witty, their presentation theatrical in the extreme. (…) It takes the idea of the multi-sensory consumption of food – blurring taste with emotion – to an unprecedented and inspirational level.  

William Drew, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Nov 2012

 

Ultraviolet – an odyssey into the psyche of Paul Pairet… is an OCD perfectionist with the soul of an artist.

Monica Liau, That’s Shanghai, Jun 2012

 

You’ll ooh and ahh and forget any effort to contain your excitement. It’s dinner as theater, it’s food as you’ve never experienced it before… it’s totally, utterly worth it.

Geoff Ng, City Weekend, May 2012

 

Ultraviolet is radical and it was very much worth the wait… the food is central to the night, never just a prop; each meticulously crafted bite is so delectable, we’re left craving more after nearly every course.

Crystyl Mo, Time Out Shanghai, May 2012

 

Matching the greatest stars of the culinary world. (…) If he had stayed in France, Paul Pairet would probably be by far the leader of the contemporary cuisine.

J.P. Gabriel, Gentleman (Belgium), Dec 2007

 

Paul Pairet is the missing link between the 90’s and the third millennium.

Omnivore Deauville 2010 (France), Feb 2010

 

The chef is masterful, turbulent and totally unpredictable. His products are top-notch.

François Simon, Air France magazine, May 2007

 

I know that for my last meal on earth, nothing but Jade on 36 will suffice.

Joanne Harris, The Times (UK), Oct 2006

 

Paul Pairet cooks like a dream… Perhaps the best meal of my life.

Lucy Waverman, The Globe & Mail (Toronto), Oct 2006

 

The maximum leader – Paul Pairet, the mastermind in culinary, has redefined fine dining in Shanghai.

Jürgen Franke, Eat magazine (Germany), Dec 2009