A little bird told me that the mono-titular German chef Tommes of Enoteca (formerly of such powerhouse gastro-houses as Jean-Georges SH and WD-50 in Manhattan) will presently jump galleys over to the premises of another German chef—Stefan Stiller’s ambitious new venue at Shanghai’s Cool Docks down by the Huangpu (and although the bird in question did not name the restaurant) I assume it is Stiller’s Restaurant which is due to open presently.

Okay, okay, the bird in question is actually Tommes himself, who wrote me: “thought I let you know personally before somebody else breaks the news to you. E1 and E2 are up and running amazingly well in such a short time, but I received an offer I couldn't refuse....” Tommes went on to say that he will be the Executive Sous Chef at Stiller’s new joint and that he sees this as a “once in a lifetime chance”.

Stiller (a chef with a Michelin-star background, most recently Executive Chef at Mimosa and now working as a restaurant consultant) writes on his website (www.stillers-restaurant.cn) that he sees this new location at Shanghai’s Cool Docks as singularly prime: “We will be located in the booming, and rapidly expanding, heart of Shanghai”... I’ve never been so confident in my life before that a location for a restaurant would work out and kick off as I’m expecting.”

Personally, as someone who can not find her way out of a paper bag, I think the Cool Docks location is a bit off of the map of frequent destinations, but hey, people once said that about Three on the Bund (although they also said that about Mimosa/Pier One). And others are saying that the Cool Docks are going to be Shanghai’s “new Xintiandi” (did we want another one of those??). Anyway, I’m definitely looking forward to checking out what these two Germans have up their chef coat sleeves.