Summer Menu challenge 2025

About the Restaurant 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA Shanghai

A Taste of Italy in the Heart of Shanghai

Located in the heart of the bustling Lujiazui district, 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA Shanghai is the crown jewel of refined Italian dining in China. A recipient of two Michelin stars, the restaurant is the Asian flagship of celebrated Italian chef Umberto Bombana. But since 2023, it is Chef Nicolo Rotella who has been orchestrating the Shanghai kitchen with precise poetry, elevating tradition with a modern pulse.

The restaurant exudes quiet luxury: moody lighting, sleek marble, curated art, and a wine list of near-mythical stature. It’s the kind of place where dining becomes ceremony—and in this year’s All4Chefs Summer Menu Challenge 2025, Chef Rotella brings a new chapter to its legacy.

About the Chef

Nicolo Rotella – From the Kitchens of Turin to the Tables of Shanghai

Born in Turin, Italy, Chef Nicolo Rotella’s culinary journey began in the kitchen of his father’s restaurant. Homework was done under the hum of dinner service; spices and steam formed his first vocabulary. That passion matured in Michelin-starred kitchens like Il Sorriso, Il Piccolo Lago, and the legendary Da Vittorio, where he refined the techniques that would become the bones of his cuisine.

But it was his move to China—first to lead the New Wave by Da Vittorio project, where he earned his first Michelin star as head chef, and later to Otto e Mezzo Bombana Shanghai—that unlocked his ability to blend tradition with transformation.

“Working in Shanghai has pushed me to unlearn and relearn. It’s humbling—and electrifying. I’ve learned to cook without borders, but never without roots.”

Rotella describes his approach as emotional, instinctive, and quietly rebellious. He cooks not for spectacle, but for sincerity.

Chef’s Summer Menu Inspiration

“ROOTS” & “JOURNEY” – A Dual Memoir of Contrast and Change
By Chef Nicolo Rotella
For All4Chefs Summer Menu Challenge 2025

“My goal this summer was to capture contrast. The brightness of fresh peas against the umami of aged beef. The airiness of a mousse cut by the acidity of raspberry vinegar. I want every course to surprise, to shift, to evolve. Summer isn’t static—it changes with each day, and so does this menu.”
– Chef Nicolo Rotella

For Chef Nicolo Rotella, this year’s All4Chefs Summer Menu Challenge 2025 is more than a seasonal showcase—it’s a culinary autobiography told in two voices.

Presented as twin tasting menus titled “ROOTS” and “JOURNEY,” Rotella’s summer offering is a meditation on heritage and transformation—an intimate exploration of his upbringing in Turin, his evolution across Michelin-starred kitchens in Italy, and his present-day mastery in Shanghai’s most refined dining room.

“ROOTS is memory. JOURNEY is movement. One holds me still. The other pushes me forward.”

Each dish in the ROOTS menu is steeped in personal resonance. The gentle sweetness of peas and the earthiness of truffle echo the flavors of his Piedmontese childhood. His raviolo, filled with botan shrimp and crowned with caviar, is both a nod to tradition and a statement of where he’s arrived. Ingredients like maitake mushrooms, bay leaf oil, and fermented porcini add layers of nostalgia and balance, bridging Italian warmth with Shanghai’s intricate umami spectrum.

In contrast, the JOURNEY menu reflects motion, change, and creative freedom. From burnt lemon with black abalone to New Zealand scampi in Thai basil bisque, these plates are infused with cross-cultural dialogue. They are dishes born not just from place, but from adaptation—infused with the flavors of global technique, unexpected pairings, and the emotional fluidity of travel.

“Every course was built to evolve on the palate—like seasons within a season,” Rotella says. “I don’t want summer to be one note. I want it to feel like a journey across temperature, memory, and light.”