The Old Gardenia Club’s Latest Incarnation

Posted: May 15th, 2024 | No Comments »

Every few years I seem to blog about a new incarnation occurring at what was once the great Alexander Vertinsky’s Gardenia Club (which features pretty prominently in my book City of Devils). Nobody seems to be able to keep a business running in the building any longer than the old Russian crooner himself did back in the late 1930s/1940 or thereabouts. So (thanks to George Godula of The Museum of Foreign Brand Advertising in Shanghai – MOFBA for this latest shot).

First we have a couple of shots the Gardenia on Yu Yuen Road (Yuyuen Lu) when it was The Gardenia and Vertisnky’s swank joint. Then a shot from 2019 sent to me in 2019 (when I did go and have a quick lunch there myself!) when it was the brilliantly titled Superman Hotpot. And finally George’s shot from May 2024, when the old Gardenia seems to have taken a rather Japanese swing….

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