Shanghai Secrets is a column series where we share great places, products, and things to do that would generally, fly under most people's radars. Think, hard to find places, or businesses that "you gotta know someone" to find out about... here are our curated selections of Shanghai's hidden gems.

The Place:

For most expats here, only two restaurants will come to mind when we think of Hunan cuisine: Di Shui Dong and Guyi Hunan Restaurant. By and large, the rest are relegated to mom-and-pop establishments with eternally greasy floors and mistranslated menus largely offering the greatest hits. As great as this cuisine is, it's not known for maverick chefs who are innovating and advancing it. Yuan You Tao is trying its level best to buck this trend.

The Space:

The place shares an entrance with the salon upstairs. So, if you notice the smell of burning hair, don't worry, you aren't having a stroke. Someone's just getting highlights. The space itself is small, spartan and contemporary with a bistro-like feel. Any walls not covered in white stucco are stripped bare to expose the bricks beneath. It has one of those walk-in wine closets where you can select your own bottle. This trend seems to have started with hip little wine bars like Vinism and SoiF. You now find it in places like PUR'aisn, Cila, Babar – basically any restaurant with aspirations toward hipness.

The Food:

The menu branches out from the Hunan canon with varying degrees of success. Let's mark the pig ear terrine down as a success. It's a simple but elegant presentation – chopstickable cubes of layered meat and cartilage look like carved and polished sedimentary stones. Each is dolloped with a green pepper pesto that adds the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorn.

Yuan You Tao's duck liver bean curd and mantou is also a way forward. A single massive mantou is sliced into wedges and served in a bamboo steaming basket. Alongside it comes a tiny jar of foie gras, with furu (a fermented tofu condiment) and fermented chilies. You spread it on the steamed bun like classic foie gras and toast points.

They also make an attempt at Canto-Hunan fusion with a small dim sum selection. There's a handful of small steamed, stewed, and fried items, each with its own Hunan accent. But even the items with the promisingly little chili icon next to them – like the Hunan radish cake with XO sauce and cured Hunan beef spring rolls – are solidly good but disappointingly short on Scoville units. Other dim sum items depart entirely from the Hunan theme and head straight to Spain via Shanghai. Think: Iberico ham xiaolongbao.

Other dishes are truer to form and worth a look. Their black tofu braised in fermented bean paste would be great on your table as the mercury begins to drop. It's a stick-to-your-ribs stew – creamy like an Indian curry, with that definitively salty, pungent punch of Hunan cuisine.

Also, be sure to check out one of their "Seasonal Specials," like their hot and sour Dong'an chicken. They simmer the bird in a fragrant mix of oil, chilies, ginger and (of all things) Romanesco (that odd-looking fractal-shaped cauliflower) before finishing it off with a hefty splash of vinegar. It's a great dish. I only wish it had a bit more of that tongue-searing heat I look for in Hunan cuisine.

The Damage:

Starters range from 48 to 98 yuan (US$6.73-13.74). "Fried and Steamed" selections are anywhere between 48 and 88 yuan. Dim sum dishes start at 58 yuan and cap off at 108 yuan. It's the 'Seasonal Specials' that end up padding your check. Those will cost you 188 to 298 yuan. We were a party of two and spent just north of 700 yuan with just a beer each. That figure would probably have been closer to 1,100 or 1,200 yuan had we gotten a bottle of wine.

Good For:

Hip, artsy, young upwardly mobile Shanghai types who want to like Hunan cuisine but can't handle the heat.

If you go:

Opening hours: 5:30pm-midnight (Monday-Thursday); 11:30am-2pm, 5:30pm-midnight (Friday-Sunday)

Address: 167 Xinle Rd 新乐路167号