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Lady M
Add: LG2-22 International Financial Center, 8 Century Avenue
Tel: N/A
Hours: 10am – 9:30pm
Price: 68-75 RMB/slice of cake
Visited: Sep 2017
The first Lady M in Mainland China opened 2 days ago in Shanghai, and it’s been a crazy ride. The wait is apparently at least 2 hours regardless of when you go – there are people lining up at 8am even though the shop doesn’t open till 10am, and there are ticket scalpers “reselling” cakes at doubled prices…what’s going on?
中國內地首家 Lady M 兩天前在上海開幕，聽說現在排隊等位是兩個小時起跳。明明早上十點才開門，卻八點就已排起了長隊，最久等位三個多小時，現場甚至還出現了黃牛…這到底是什麽情況？
Photo of Lady M New York, via Pinterest
For those who don’t already know, Lady M is a cake boutique founded in New York in 2004, and has been popular for quite some time now. I didn’t find out about it until I moved back to Shanghai from Paris 2 years ago, and didn’t actually taste it until last year in Hong Kong*, where I had three of its famed mille crepes (original, matcha, and chocolate) in one sitting.
*Lady M now has 10 boutiques in the U.S., and locations in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
先說說 Lady M 是誰。這 2004 年起家于紐約上東區的精品蛋糕店已經紅了好幾年，朋友圈裏不少她的忠實粉絲，不過不瞞你說，沒有很跟上潮流的我是兩年前從巴黎搬回上海才第一次聽說 Lady M ，真正吃到則是去年在香港*玩耍的時候。當時一口氣嚐了三款她最付盛名的 mille crepes 千層蛋糕，果然是極致細膩的美味。
*除了美國的 10 家店以外，Lady M 在新加坡、香港、台灣都開了分店，開一家紅一家。
Photo via Lady M
Judging from how popular Lady M is abroad, it’s not hard to predict that it’s going to be a crazy wait at its Shanghai location. Luckily, I got a sneak peek of it during the pre-opening event…
有鑒於 Lady M 在海外的爆紅程度，不難預知到她在上海開幕後也會是一家排隊排到天荒地老的店。很幸運地，我在 pre-opening 活動上得以在人潮湧入之前瞄一眼這裏是什麽樣子…
Lady M Shanghai is located on LG2 of IFC, which lacks the charm of its street-side boutique in New York, but the style remains similar – the decor is kept simple and white, allowing the cakes to be at the center of attention. Lady M creations are a mix of French traditions and Japanese sensibilities, and its two chefs – one French, one Japanese – are in Shanghai at the moment to ensure that the quality is the same as its other branches.
上海 Lady M 開在國金中心的 LG2 層，沒有紐約街邊精品店的那種感覺，不過延續了簡潔純白的風格，把焦點都給了甜點。Lady M 的蛋糕結合了法式的傳統和日式的輕盈，掌管廚房的兩位甜點師也分別來自法國和日本，上海店開幕期間都在這裏助陣，確保品質和其他門店如出一轍。
There are currently 8 cakes on offer in Shanghai, all sitting quietly in a beautifully curved cake display case. During the pre-opening event, Lady M made mini tasting versions of 6 of them – 4 mille crepes (original, matcha, passion fruit, and rose), gateau nuage, and couronne du chocolat.
上海店目前有的八款蛋糕，都靜靜地坐在蛋糕櫃裏（這弧度漂亮的陳列櫃，絕對是整間店裏最吸睛的部分了）。Pre-opening 活動當天，Lady M 特制了 mini size 的六款蛋糕讓客人們品嚐 － 四種千層蛋糕（原味、抹茶、百香果、玫瑰），雲朵芝士蛋糕、巧克力皇冠蛋糕。
The mini versions are super cute, and it was a treat to be able to taste 6 flavors in one sitting, but truth be told, I’m never able to truly concentrate on the tasting during events like this…so right there and then, I decided that I’d come back again myself.
圓形的 mini size 非常可愛，而且可以同時吃到這麽多口味很令人開心，不過老實說我是個無法在這種活動上專心吃東西的人，所以默默地決定要自己再來一次。
On a related note, a highlight of the event was to be able to chat briefly with Lady M’s founder / global CEO Ken Romaniszyn. I had assumed that the person behind Lady M would be a lady, but I was very very wrong. Inspired by his summers spent in Japan with his grandma while growing up, Ken (who is half-Japanese) set out to bring the flavors of Japanese desserts to the U.S., and Lady M was born.
開幕活動上的一個 highlight，是和 Lady M 的創始人／全球CEO Ken Romaniszyn 聊了會兒天。我本以爲 Lady M 的幕後推手會是個優雅高冷的女士，沒想到是 Ken 這樣一位謙遜和善的男士。身爲美國日本混血兒的他，從年輕時就深受日本文化影響，也說明了爲什麽 Lady M 的日式風格如此明顯。順帶一提，Ken 還是個 UCLA 本科畢業，哈佛商學院畢業的高材生呢。
Photo via SeriousEats
Anyway, as I was saying, I had planned to go back to Lady M another day to taste the cakes at my own leisurely pace, but in retrospect that was too native of an idea. After its grand opening, Lady M became impossible to get into – there are people lining up at 8am (2 hours before the shop opens), and at peak hours the wait is over 3 hours…the situation got so crazy that at one point the shop closed down early so the crowd would dissipate.
Anyway，剛才提到我在活動上心裏盤算著要自己再回店裏再好好吃一次，不過事後證明這是一個無比天真的想法。Lady M 開幕後，現場呈現早上八點就有人開始排隊，尖峰時刻要排到三個多小時才能入場的盛況…有一天門店竟然還提早關門，因為門口聚集的人（聽說大部分是黃牛）實在太多太混亂了。
That called for a change of plan. I decided to give up the idea of getting a table at Lady M, and instead (with the help of a friend) get some cakes to go. Now that I think of it, I also opted for taking cakes to go instead of waiting 1.5 hours for a table at the Hong Kong location last year…
所以只好臨時改變計劃，放棄店內的位子，外帶蛋糕去別的地方享用。這麽說來，去年在香港時也是因爲現場等位的隊伍太長（沒記錯的話是一個半小時），果斷決定外帶回飯店。
After finally settling down at a nearby cafe with my newly acquired, highly coveted Lady M cakes, I set out to taste them one by one. The first was mille crepes (68 RMB), the signature creation of Lady M, composed of over 20 layers of paper-thin crepes, sandwiching soft whipped cream and scorched just slightly on the top for a caramelized effect. It’s not an exceedingly complicated cake, but to be able to piece it together so neatly does take some skills – try it at home if you don’t believe me.
提著得來不易的蛋糕們逃離現場，松了一口氣（不誇張）後再慢悠悠地打開蛋糕盒。雖然之前已經嚐過，不過還是從 Lady M 最經典的 mille crepes 原味千層（68元）開始。Mille crepes 是法語裏“千層可麗餅” 的意思，而這款蛋糕正如其名，是用超過 20 層薄如紙片的柔軟可麗餅，以及輕盈的打發鮮奶油層層堆疊而成，再撒上砂糖微烤至焦黃。這構成雖然不複雜，但要做到如此工整，也相當考驗手藝（不信的話可以自己在家做做看）。
Matcha mille crepes (75 RMB) is another one of Lady M’s most popular items, but it almost didn’t make it to Shanghai because the matcha powder used in other locations isn’t allowed to be imported into China (I wonder why…?). After trying a few dozens of other matcha powders (allowed by the Chinese government), the Lady M team finally found one that they are satisfied with, and put the matcha mille crepes on the Shanghai menu.
抹茶千層蛋糕（75元）也是 Lady M 的人氣産品之一，不過聽說由于其他地區門店用的抹茶粉無法進口大陸，這款蛋糕差點就無法在上海出現了。後來 Lady M 的團隊反複試了幾十種可以進大陸的抹茶粉，終于找到了他們滿意的味道，才將抹茶千層蛋糕放在了菜單上。抹茶風味細膩微澀，蛋糕整體來說甜而不膩。
But what I personally prefer, is the passion fruit mille crepes (75 RMB), which was charming with its acidic notes, perfect for the summer. If you are a fan of roses, you might also want to try the rose mille crepes (75 RMB) for its elegant flavor and color.
不過我個人更喜歡的，是帶點迷人酸味的百香果千層（75元）－ 完全就是夏天的清新滋味。如果喜歡玫瑰口味的，也可以試試玫瑰千層（75元），優雅的香氣和粉色，應該是女孩子都會爲之傾心的一款。
Other than mille crepes, Lady M also offers other types of cakes, such as this framboise a la creme (a light raspberry cheesecake) with a pretty marble effect. But this, along with couronne du chocolat and gateau nuage (68 RMB each) which I tasted during the pre-opening event, was not as memorable as the mille crepe series.
除了千層之外，Lady M 也有其他的蛋糕種類，比如切面如美麗大理石紋路的覆盆子芝士蛋糕，是款柔嫩輕盈的芝士蛋糕。其他我覺得就比較普通了，比如在活動上嚐到的巧克力皇冠蛋糕，以及被 New York Magazine 評爲 “紐約最佳芝士蛋糕” 的雲朵芝士蛋糕（皆68元），並沒有令人印象深刻之處。
As was the strawberry shortcake (68 RMB) which was very Japanese in style, composed to fluffy sponge, fresh strawberries, and freshly whipped cream – it’s a nice piece of cake, but nothing extraodinary.
也有非常日式的草莓海綿蛋糕（68元），由松軟的海綿蛋糕、新鮮草莓、和鮮奶油組成。吃完後和上面同感－ 是塊味道好的蛋糕，但沒有格外出色的地方。
The last few cakes aside, Lady M’s signature mille crepes is indeed meticulously put together and well worth a try. Just looking at its extremely neat cross-section makes me a happy, happy person…
後面幾款蛋糕撇開不說，Lady M 最爲人所知的千層蛋糕的確做得相當細致，每次看到這層次分明的切面，有點輕微強迫症的我都覺得無比舒暢…真的是非常值得一試，且不容易膩的美味。
A lot of people asked me whether the mille crepes are worth a three-hour wait. Well, I hate lines in general, and anything over a 30-minute wait is an automatic no for me. If you are in the same boat as I am, I’d recommend not visiting Lady M until the hype does down a bit. Don’t even try going at “off hours”, because currently there are are no off hours at Lady M. On a related note, I’m quite curious how much the scalpers are charging for a piece of cake…
很多人都問 － 這千層真的有好吃到值得排隊三個多小時嗎？嗯，基本上我是一個討厭排隊的人，一般要等半個小時以上才能吃到的東西一律放棄，和我一樣介意排隊的人可以等風潮稍退後再去。錯峰？很抱歉的告訴你，這家店現在火爆地沒有所謂的 “錯峰”。說到這裏，我倒是有點後悔沒問黃牛價格（純屬好奇）。
But anyway, I’m certainly glad that Lady M is now in Shanghai, and am looking forward to more flavors to come (Earl Grey mille crepes, yes please).
總之，很開心在上海也能吃到 Lady M 了，也期待她將更多款式引入上海，特別是聽起來就美好的伯爵茶千層蛋糕，還有造型奇特的香蕉千層派…
Lady M
地址：世紀大道8號國金中心商場LG2-22
電話：N/A
時間：10am-9:30pm
價位：蛋糕 68-75 元／片
造訪：2017年9月