Douglas Williams/Shanghai Daily news

In music there's something known as "Difficult Second Album Syndrome" and it's been the blight of many a group perhaps notably the Clash, Guns and Roses and the Stone Roses.
Others have nimbly side stepped this to great affect - Led Zeppelin, Blur and Eminem standing out.

Moritz Fischer (left) with Justin Garcia.

Shanghai restaurateur Moritz Fischer's debut restaurant Pasti could hardly have been more warmly received with critics lauding it and punters still scrapping for seats even now two years after its opening.
Pasti, on Xikang Road behind the Portman Ritz-Carlton, has a very simple hook - homemade pasta and authentic Italian sauces served in a simple, always busy setting with reasonable prices. Pasti's success has been such that Fischer soon found himself turning away almost as many people as he seated and he has now taken the bold step of opening another restaurant literally (and commercially conveniently) just around the corner.
Red Rock can be found at 1228 Beijing Road W. just east of the junction with Xikang Road and where Pasti struggles to seat more than 30, Red Rock can easily cope with 80.
While his contemporaries were strumming tennis rackets in front of mirrors dreaming of playing to sell out crowds, Fischer was setting his sights on being a restaurateur.
"I've always wanted to work with food. I don't claim to be a chef but having lived in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United States and now China, I've eaten in a lot of restaurants, I know about food and I know what I like," said the good-humored 27-year-old Fischer from south Germany who has now been in Shanghai for four years. He came to China in search of excitement which somehow eluded him in his position with a large pharmaceutical company.
"I've always been an ideas man," said Fischer. "I wanted to see if I could make my idea of a restaurant work. I wasn't interested in consultancy or import-export I wanted something hands-on. So I left the company and set about establishing a restaurant."
While Pasti is erring on the cramped Red Rock is spacious which means getting a table is straightforward but the atmosphere could improve. It's a good-looking, modern space all bold primary colors, woods, shocks of real foliage and well presented tables. Slick, modern music - huzzah. When it's busy, and it will be soon, it will be quite something.
Chef Justin Garcia, from Texas, previously worked at Sense on the Bund and is now bringing Bund style cuisine - high-end, modern-classic continental - to Red Rock without the discomfortingly proportioned tally. Classically trained at Johnson and Wales Garcia likes his customers to know what they are eating: "We're not looking to reinvent the wheel here, we're wanting to serve quality good looking, tasty food, using top ingredients at reasonable prices."

Deliciously simple grilled salad.

My dining partner's grilled salad with sardines and my tuna tartare starter demonstrated this very effectively. Caramelized apples under a rack of perfectly char-grilled boned lamb with a pumpkin puree and a raspberry ju was thoroughly satisfying. The turkey breast on chestnut stuffing prematurely seasonal though wholesome and tasty nonetheless; both beautifully presented. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's philosophy of no-nonsense tasty food using good ingredients is much in evidence, not surprising since Fischer is a big fan.
Oliver, incidentally, became a UK national hero making school diners a big issue during the last general election and subsequently raising government spending in this important area. Oliver said: "If you (politicians) can't feed our kids properly at school, why on earth should you have the right to take our tax or send our troops to war?"
On being a restaurateur Fischer said: "It's fascinating, it's like running a little company, there's always something going right and something going wrong. The trick is to ensure standards are maintained at all times. It's a continual learning curve."
Red Rock has all the makings of a class restaurant. Tiny niggles with service are rapidly being ironed out, there's a lot to fine dining Western style, and like all the best albums that just get better the more they're listened to, Red Rock will get better and better the more it is dined in.