Kiwi restaurateur Richard Xavia says there's "a really massive gap" to fill: classy restaurants that are sexy, sophisticated and not killingly expensive. He's helping to fill it, writes Rebecca Palmer.

Shanghai is a sprawling city, but Richard Xavia's life is confined to a small part of it. The New Zealander lives right above his latest project - a restaurant and bar in the 1931 building Hamilton House, a short stroll from the Bund.

Xavia is in love with his own neighborhood and it's not hard to see why. His "penthouse" on the top floor gives a 360-degree view of Shanghai. Hamilton House is one of four Art Deco buildings at the intersection of Fuzhou and Jiangxi roads. The four make a graceful curve round the intersection.

"I think this is the most Art Deco intersection in China," Xavia says.

Hamilton House restaurant, which opened yesterday, is on the ground floor, allowing customers to watch the lively street life outside.

"You actually feel like you are part of what is going on," Xavia says. "I love it because you get to see the real Shanghai here, which you don't normally see get to see on the Bund."

Xavia was born in the south Auckland suburb of Mangere, known as one of the toughest neighborhoods in New Zealand. He believes his upbringing helped him learn to communicate with and respect people from all walks of life.

He started cooking at the age of 15. "I decided I wanted to explore the world and the best way to do that would be through hospitality. Instead of going to university, I got a job as a trainee chef. I did that for a little while and decided I was more attracted to front of house."

At the age of 18, he decided to move to London. "I went to London because I couldn't learn from anyone in New Zealand at that time. I didn't know anyone, didn't have a job.

"My trick was to put myself in positions that I could learn from. I landed in London and ended up working with some interesting people."

After working for some time as a cocktail barman, he found work with a company that ran seven brands of restaurants. He was placed with one called Cafe Rouge, and gained experience in the business side of restaurants.

He also had a brief stint working as a private butler in the Bahamas. But at the age of 28, he tossed it all in and went home to New Zealand. "I had been in the UK for about 10 years and I'd just had enough. It was just a bit too cold for me."

He lived on Waiheke Island, off the coast of Auckland, for a while and did some consultancy work, turning a pub into a restaurant. He also lived in Queenstown, another place he had always wanted to live.

Eventually, he decided to move on to Sydney, where he worked for some of Australia's best restaurants and was also general manager of the Sydney Opera House. He spent seven years there. "Then I was invited to do Three on the Bund and I just got hooked on China."

He came to Shanghai to become the first general manager of New Heights. "I went in and opened it, set the standards."

He later went to work on some restaurant projects in Beijing. "I got to know the Beijing market and it made me understand the Shanghai market. They are two different cities. Beijing is very politically led and Shanghai is very money-led. You've got to have two different approaches."

"That was a really good experience for me, but Shanghai is home. I came back to Shanghai a year ago. Shanghai has just got this real sexiness going on about it."

He and business partner Wu Qianqian have launched a consultancy company Hatch, which helps international restaurant groups get into the China market. At the moment, they are talking to a restaurant group from Beverly Hills, California.

They hope Hamilton House restaurant will be just the first of many projects. "We are building a lifestyle group so Hamilton House is just the first. We are already looking at other locations."

The restaurant, which serves "French comfort food," is aimed at expats, tourists and the emerging "lifestyle-driven Chinese market," Xavia says.

"Shanghai is all about work, so the way to relax is going to restaurants and bars. This is the lifestyle that is exploding at the moment. We see there's a really massive gap in the market. Hamilton House is sort of between Element Fresh and Laris."

Xavia says the designers have tried to retain the 1930s style of the Hamilton House building. It has Art Deco fittings and a black lacquer bar. "The whole thing is about being sexy and sophisticated but not being overwhelmingly expensive."

The restaurant also has some very innovative features. The unisex bathroom has a mirror on one side and transparent glass on the other, allowing restaurant patrons to see people putting on make-up. There's also a space for people to just sit and chat.

"We believe the toilets are quite a social area," he adds. "You can decide the standard of the kitchen by the standard of the bathroom."

He has brought chef Philippe Leban, who has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, over from Australia and has also brought over a bartender from one of New Zealand's best bars, the Matterhorn. "The reason I wanted him here is that the whole bar thing is starting to kick off."

Xavia was in Sydney for the 2000 Olympics and is looking forward to the Beijing event. "I think Shanghai is going to get a lot of tourists from Beijing." And of course, there's the 2010 World Expo to look forward to. "2010 is just going to be incredible."

Xavia says he has always been very ambitious but never had any idea he would end up opening a restaurant in Shanghai.

"As a kid, I wanted to turn into a particular man. But the man I've turned into, there's no way I would ever have imagined this," he says. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'm so involved in it."

(Shanghai Daily November 6, 2007)