Achieving the ultimate do-it-yourself picnic
The weather is hot at last, and we see no reason why you should spend hours in your kitchen wrapping up soggy sandwiches or rapidly browning apple slices if you want to kick back with a picnic. So here are our top picks for the best portable culinary delights Shanghai has to offer.

First stop is Delish Shop, which has dedicated a whole section of its menu to picnics. Try the plate of smoked salmon (￥70), all set to go with lemon wedges, sour cream and toast which will go perfectly with a glass of white wine-Ctheir Riesling is not cheap at ￥228, but it is delicious and has that all important screw cap. For a cheaper treat, opt for their selection of French cheeses which are much better value here than elsewhere in town. Brie, St. Nectaire and Chevre are all around the ￥40 for 100g mark. Element Fresh is our favorite for light summery food. They do a take-away set of ready chopped vegetables and fat olives with pita bread and hummus for ￥58, and enormous boxes of fresh salad. You can now pick up "Element Fresh To-Go" self service coolers from branches of City Shop across town.

If you have deep pockets and want the kind of picnic items that would make you feel you're dining in the gardens of a Tuscan villa, try Slice's imported treats. Manager Caesar Liu, says the number of people coming into the Shanghai Times Square branch to pick up picnic items has boomed in the last few weeks. So what's the most popular item? "The mango smoothie (￥38) is really, really good," he says. "My personal recommendation is our imported Spanish Cod Fish Dip (￥88)." Don't forget to pick up some of their special breads to dunk in it.

So now you have your grub, but how do you eat it a la outdoors? Plastic knives and forks won't do for such stylish cuisine, but don't worry, we've made the ultimate picnic find: LiveGreen Eco's Bring Your Own Chopstick (BYOC) set. For ￥28, you get a very chic pocket-sized capsule which contains a stainless steel pair of retractable chopsticks, a spoon and fork (call 5855-6298 to order one). Finally, for those of you not even organized enough to get to a shop before hitting the parks, we checked with Sherpa's and they can help you out. So, if you find yourself basking in the sun one afternoon and are just too lazy to move to the nearest deli, give them a call and they'll bring your picnic straight to you--the blanket is your responsibility, though.

Ai Hai Lun