8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

The Vision Behind the Name

When Umberto Bombana — widely known as the "King of White Truffles" — opened 8½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA Shanghai on the Rockbund in 2012, he brought with him a philosophy built on honest cooking, exceptional produce, and meticulous attention to service. The Shanghai outpost, occupying the sixth and seventh floors of the historic Associate Mission Building on Yuanmingyuan Road, carries that ethos forward with the same conviction that earned the original Hong Kong restaurant its legendary status.

The Kitchen Today

Leading the kitchen is Executive Chef Nicoló Rotella, a Turin native whose path through some of Italy's most demanding kitchens shaped a precise, deeply personal approach to Italian cuisine. He cooked at two-starred Il Sorriso and Il Piccolo Lago before joining the Da Vittorio family in Bergamo, then moved to Shanghai as part of Da Vittorio's New Wave project. In the summer of 2023 he arrived at 8½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA Shanghai, and his promotion to Executive Chef reflects the kitchen's confidence in his ability to balance classical Italian technique with the creative energy the restaurant demands.

Alongside him, Restaurant Manager and Head Sommelier Ervin Ong — one of only roughly twenty people in China to have passed the Advanced Sommelier examination with the Court of Master Sommeliers — was named Sommelier of the Year in the 2024 Michelin Guide Shanghai. Together, Rotella and Ong shape the food-and-wine pairing experience that defines an evening here.

Recognition and Setting

The restaurant has held two Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide Shanghai continuously since 2017, and its place in the Gambero Rosso guide further cements its standing as one of the city's most consistently decorated Italian fine dining addresses. "To be recognized by the Guide is certainly a praise of the highest calibre," Delgrossi — Rotella's predecessor — once noted, capturing an attitude the current team clearly shares.

The space itself is designed for different moods: a main dining room for the full fine dining experience, private rooms for more intimate occasions, a cocktail bar and lounge open every evening from 17:30, an ageing room, and a wine cellar. Smart casual dress is expected — a small but telling signal of the room's quiet formality.