On my first visit to Vivant since it received its Michelin star, the dining room was full and alive with movement. It felt as though the restaurant had secured a place at the forefront of Shanghai’s rising French fine-dining scene. Vivant was busy yet composed, with none of the rigidity of a fixed performance. The front-of-house team was elegant and assured; the cooking was precise, the mood relaxed. We passed between two walls of wine, then an open, silver-toned kitchen, before sitting down beneath a retro arched ceiling.