[Photo provided to China Daily]

Shanghai's vibrant gastronomy is reclaiming its dynamism as the COVID-19 outbreak has largely been brought under control in the city, following months of inactivity.

Time-honored local restaurants have reopened one by one in the Yu Garden old town since late March. Korean food carts on Hongquan Street resumed operations on weekends from April. And fast-food fans lined up on the commercial boulevard, Huaihai Road, to eat at the first Popeyes fried-chicken store on the Chinese mainland in May.

And the Grand Kempinski Hotel Shanghai's Acqua Italian Restaurant reopened on May 18 after being shut down in February.

The restaurant used the time to enhance its look and feel to become more welcoming and casual. It added a Negroni-cocktail bar, upgraded its dinner menu and started to provide a quick weekday set lunch and weekend brunch all day, says hotel manager Gregor Raible.

"Business has been good. We're growing, gradually," he says, praising the government's decisive action in controlling the spread of COVID-19 so that the hotel industry can thrive again after the pause.

Marco Erba, head chef of the restaurant in the city's financial heart, Lujiazui, is happy to be busy serving customers once again.