Shanghai iApm, the world's first full-service restaurant by GUCCI, named after the year of the brand's founding

For the past two months, all kinds of rumors and introductions about 1921 GUCCI have been circulating in the high-end lifestyle circle of the Magic City. And some are confused: hasn't GUCCI had a restaurant for a long time?

The harder it is to get a reservation for a restaurant, the more people want to go there. 1921 Gucci has opened a window for diners who are eager to pull out the straws, with afternoon tea from 3 to 5 p.m. every day available on a first-come, first-served basis without a reservation. Believe us, we're on a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs as we sample the food for you.

Located on the 4th floor of the mall, the restaurant is similar to the Gucci store, with coffee and gold as the main colors of the facade, and extensive use of wood and metal materials. The name "1921 Gucci" hangs discreetly. Outside the door, in addition to the usher's counter, there is a 2-meter-long cake counter, where cakes are the only food customers can take away without waiting in line, and prices vary according to different sizes.

Located on the fourth floor of the mall, the restaurant is similar to the Gucci store, with coffee and gold as the main colors of the facade, and a lot of wood and metal materials. The name "1921 Gucci" hangs discreetly, and outside the door, in addition to the usher's counter, there is a 2-meter-long cake counter, which is the only food that customers can take away without queuing, and the price varies according to different sizes.

Because it's not a take-number mechanism, reporters arrived at 2:30 p.m. to find a long, orderly queue behind the door, which I'm afraid wasn't expected by the staff, because it's not just passers-by who are taking photos of the queue with their cell phones at the shopping malls, but also the restaurant staff.

Reporters were originally told they could enter at 3:30 p.m. After more than half an hour, ushers began to warn that 3:30 p.m. shoppers might not be able to get in because most of the tables would be closed after the first round of customers finished their afternoon tea in preparation for the dinner setup. Knowing this, 1921 Gucci currently has seven tables for four and nine for two, while the tables on the terrace are not yet open due to the summer heat outside. That means at peak times, the restaurant can host up to 46 customers at a time in addition to the bar.

According to Alessandro, all desserts are now made in-house, and the chef is from Rome, Italy. But you can't think of this place as a replica of Gucci's cafes in Italy or Tokyo, Japan, because you won't see any Gucci stamp on the desserts that sit on plain white square plates. You know, most of the luxury goods that cross over to food and drink nowadays go to great lengths to put their logos on their plates, as the world's first Vivienne Westwood Café, opened in Shanghai by Britain's "Queen Mother" of the same name, did not long ago, and Gucci's Tokyo café sells tiramisu with the Double G logo on the plate. Gucci's Tokyo cafe sells tiramisu with the double G logo on it and lattes with the word "Gucci" on the pull.