Kathleen's5

Why the 5?
     Because we’re on the 5th floor, the rooftop, of the Shanghai Art Museum. In 2004, When Kathleen decided to open her 4th restaurant in Shanghai, she chose the Art Museum for its historical importance, its beautiful architecture, and most of all because of the panoramic view from the roof: a view from the center of Shanghai like no other.
     To match the beautiful scenery, she brought in Franck Crouvezier from France, by way of Australia and Hong Kong, as General Manager to ensure an impeccable service. For the cuisine, she turned to chef Peter Gong, a Shanghai native trained in Australia for 20 years. Peter continental cuisine reflects his preference for Mediterranean flavors and abundant fresh ingredients.
History of the Building
     Kathleen’s 5 looks out onto People’s Square, once the Shanghai Horse Racing Course. Built in 1933 by the English as the Racing Club, its clients were the rich and famous who came to watch their thoroughbreds when Shanghai was the “Sin City.” Outside of the Bund, People’s Square has the most extensive collection of historic buildings from the 30s.
     Reclaimed by the Chinese in 1949, the new government built an extensive network of underground tunnels that still exist today. When the Grand Theatre was built next door, the street had to be refortified because delivery trucks were too heavy that they might crush the cement pavement and fall into the tunnels below.
     In 1955 it became the Shanghai Library, and books and manuscripts were stored under a makeshift awning in what is now Kathleen’s 5. The library stayed until 1998 when the Shanghai Art Museum took over.
     Today, guests at Kathleen’s 5 can sit under the clock tower, one of the most towers in the city. For many years, the clock told the wrong time and was associated with decay until Kathleen’s 5 moved in. It has been accurate since then.
The Panoramic View
     From the terrace of Kathleen’s 5, our guests can look into Shanghai’s past and see the city’s vision of the future.
     There is the echo of 30s jazz through the corridors of the Park Hotel, built as the tallest building in China at the time just across the way. It stayed the city’s tallest building for 50 years. When city planners enlarged the boundaries of Shanghai, they assigned it as Point Zero. A few buildings down, there is the Number One Department store which was indeed China’s very first department store.
     The area is also the cultural center with the Shanghai Museum to the right of Kathleen’s 5, the Grand Theater next door, the Concert Hall and the Planning Museum all within view of Kathleen’s 5 terrace. On the other side of our Glass Pavilions, our guests can see the awarding wining Tomorrow Square, built in 2003.
     Future of Shanghai can be seen in tops of the China’s 2 tallest building, the Jin Mao and the International Financial Center, completed in 2009.
     There is no restaurant more central who can offer a comparable view, no restaurant with more attentive service, or with better tasting western food than Kathleen’s 5. See our other webpages to find out more about our Events Packages, Menus, and Promotions.

Kathleen Lau
     I came to China in the early 90s much like many of those early ex-pats - with no clear idea of why I came, and only the lure of adventure keeping me here. I was awed by the vastness of this country, the density of its population and finally cowed by speed of which it was moving into the 21st century.
     I chose Guangzhou as my first city of residence. Shopping for food I recognized meant paying US$4 for a stick of butter at the Garden Hotel Deli. Good coffee could not be found and bad coffee cost US$5 a cup and you had to put up with stiff hotel service.
     To make my first salad, I rinsed the vegetables with tap water and added tofu from the wet market, uncooked. I was sick for three days. I missed eating the food I liked, using the products I knew, and reading English.
     To pass the time and earn enough to pay rent, I taught English. Students in those days were working professionals who worked in joint-venture companies (colleges had not begun bringing in native English teachers). Instead of questions about language, they asked about American culture. Foreign TV programming had only just started coming into the mainland and pirated American movies barely existed.
     I thought the best way to illustrate American culture was to open a coffee shop. In 1996, I opened the first privately-owned American/western cafe in Guangzhou. It was called Kathleen's. But my Chinese students did not drink coffee (nor any other Cantonese I knew!), so I added a home stove and put spaghetti on the menu.
     My lunch rush was five little boys from the apartment upstairs who managed to cough up the 10rmb for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The challenge was cutting it into five equal parts. Soon, even they stopped coming.
     Then one day, Marylin walked through the door. She was one of the Canadian teachers of an exclusive grammar school preparing Chinese 8-year olds for a future at Harvard - the first of its kind. She liked the coffee and spread the word.
     Kathleen's did not succeed in bringing coffee to the Chinese masses, but it did become the expat oasis of its time. Foreign managers and top executives running international firms would drop in. In time, they started to ask questions about where to find turkeys for Thanksgiving, how to get an English speaking piano teacher, or is there a good dental clinic. I decided to collect all of this information and print it up.
     In June 1997, I wrote Clueless in Guangzhou from my living room. It was the in-house "newsletter" for Kathleen's. I printed 3,000 copies of the first issue. Within a year, we were printing 10,000 copies per issue.
     By 1998, many of my clients were moving their offices to Shanghai. So in early 1998, I came to Shanghai to see what the commotion was all about. The team for Clueless in Guangzhou published the first issue of our Shanghai magazine in July, 1998. We called this magazine iSH - in Shanghai. After a few issues we changed the name to that's Shanghai.
     Many of Kathleen's Guangzhou clients had also moved to Shanghai. And so in 1999, Kathleen's Mao Ming was opened. In 2000, KABB (Kathleen's American Bistro Bar) at Xintiandi also opened.
     Changing priorities convinced me to sell all my interests in those restaurants and magazines to my business partners. In 2001 I left China for a break。
     After two years, my first book, Riding the Dragon: A Practical Guide to Living in Shanghai was published.
     In February 2004, Kathleen's 5 was opened in the rooftop of the historic Shanghai Art Museum. It is the biggest project I have ever done.
     In many ways, my personal growth have mirrored that of Shanghai's. Being a part of this city's spectacular and speedy climb - from an undeveloped city with no street lights to having the newest infrastructure of any international city - have allowed me to stretch my own horizons. As, I am sure, it has been the case for you.
     For all who have set foot in this city, for a day or a lifetime, we are fellow travelers, sharing the 15 minutes of fame with one the China's most stunning achievements. Enjoy the moment.

Franck Crouvezier
     Franck Crouvezier began his career in the restaurant industry while still a teenager. France, his native country, gave him a love and appreciation of good food and wine, coupled with an “art de vivre” (art of life) in the sharing of this food. After apprenticing with major restaurants in Paris, he left France for the newer and vibrant London restaurant scene. Many of London’s chefs from the then nascent food revolution came from Australia. Franck decided to go to the source, the world of new wines and cooking with fresh abundant ingredients. He was to spend 15 years in Australia, working as dining manager to general manager, to being partner of Bel Mondo Restaurant, which won Best New Restaurant and later Best Restaurants under his management.
     Moving to the next hot scene, Franck went to Hong Kong where he helped open award-winning Veda and Aqua Restaurants and Dragon l Club. Franck’s extensive background in many fine-dining restaurants in various countries prepared him well for his move to Shanghai in 2006.
     Since joining K5, Franck has seen Shanghai change from a city with few western restaurants and wine offerings, to the international sensation it is today. He has kept K5 on the forefront in demanding the best in service and food quality. For those interested in doing large events with foreign VIPs, Franck offers especially secure service that is in line with international standards.
     He is also a sommelier and wine educator. In 1993 Franck co-founded the Australian Sommelier Association. He went on to found the National Sommelier Competition and the Sommelier’s Group. Franck was a Wine Judge at the Western Australian Wise Choice Awards in 1995, the Wine Wise Award in 1999 and also judged for the Label Design Awards 2000 and 2001.
     His talent is easily seen in the K5 Wine List. Today, he is frequently invited to judge new wines for Shanghai Wine and Restaurant Magazine and Wine Review Magazine
Awards:
1995 – Best NSW Wine List Award and
1996 – Best Wine Waiter for the Sydney Morning Herald, November 1996
1997 – As Bel Mondo, Best New Restaurant (American Express Card award)
1998 – Creator and co-coordinator of the Canberra District Wine Show
1998 – Best Restaurant Sydney City (American Express Card award)
1999 – Best Restaurant NSW (American Express Card award)
2001 – Best Italian Restaurant Sydney (Sydney Morning Herald)
2002 – Best New Restaurant 2002 (Hong Kong Magazine)
2003 – Best New Club 2003 (Hong Kong Magazine)