Magic in your pantry (and other food news)

Kitchen fetishists, we know you're out there: For those of you who enjoy cooking at home, now you can add sexy cookware to your kitchen arsenal. Pantry Magic, which calls itself Asia's favorite place for specialty kitchen supply, is opening their first store in Shanghai in the middle of this month. From their press release:

Pantry Magic carries a complete product line of more than 2,000 items from pots and pans to brightly colored mixing bowls, silicone spatulas and bakeware, tea towels and aprons, knives and steels and pepper mills. With multiple lines of high-end cookware, including stainless and copper-finished tri-ply, enamel and non-stick coated cast iron and anodized aluminum and ceramic to choose from, there is something to satisfy every kitchen preference. Jazz music plays while shoppers browse, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere.

Shanghaiist gets by with two Ikea bowls, some chopsticks, and a delivery menu for Gil Wonton, so we probably won't be indulging in Pantry Magic anytime soon. For those of you who do want to spruce up your kitchen drawers, the new store will be located on the corner of Taojiang Lu and Dongping Lu.

PETA don't come: Beginning Thursday and running through Sunday (10/14), Abbey Road will be throwing a Schlacht Fest, or Slaughter Party. No, it's not an early Halloween party; there's really only one place to go for that. According to Abbey Road, the slaughter party is an old Swiss and German tradition, where butchers would slaughter pigs during the fall season and use the opportunity as a get together to finish off parts of the pig that couldn't be stored over the winter (i.e. bowels, blood, and liver...sounds Sichuanese).

The menu includes bloodwurst, liver sausage, bacon, and a lot of other pork dishes. The restaurant asks those looking for a little less meat to not worry; the regular menu will still be served through the event.

And in other opening news: Paul, the French bakery that brings great joy to some Shanghaiist contributors, has just opened their third store on the first floor of Shanghai Centre (1376 W. Najing Lu near Xikang Lu). Try the napoleons.

We've already lost count of how many Blue Frogs are out there, and the world welcomes another one, this time in Xujiahui. The grand opening is this Friday (10/12) from 6-10pm, and all standard drinks will be 25RMB after 10pm. The new spot is at Unit 12, 131 Tian Yao Qiao Lu.

Photo of happy pigs off to the slaughter by theshanghaieye via the Contribute page.

Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.