The reputation of Chinese cuisine has languished. Long ago the epicenter of the culinary world, Chinese cuisine no longer seems to garner the same respect as its international counterparts. While I believe opinions will eventually change, I think the initiative falls upon us. We, as diners, need to learn more ... Read More
There is one meal that stands above all as the end-all gesture of love, supplication, and even apology. For those incapable of buying the perfect thoughtful present (myself included) there remains one fallback that can never be faulted. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the breakfast in bed. Executed well ... Read More
If you love to browse the food section of the New York Times or food and restaurant blogs you’ll have come across the term “pop-up restaurant” more than a few times. It took me awhile to wrap my head around the concept of a dining outlet that wasn’t ... Read More
It may sound trite, but I think one of the greatest accomplishments of my life was overcoming my fear of dining alone. I grew up in a household insistent on sitting down for dinner together every night, went to boarding school for five years and had a roommate until I ... Read More
Admidst the sensory barrage that comes with chef celebritization and food porn, it’s often easy to overlook the simpler pleasures associated with our mutual love of eating. Heck, even basic comfort food has had its time in the limelight. But I think a love of food comes from somewhere ... Read More
Last issue we covered food cost and what that does to the cost of your meal. Today, we cover everything else.
Beverages
The second biggest cost after food is beverage. In the U.S., most places can keep themselves under 20 percent but in Shanghai that’s essentially impossible. The ... Read More
Today I’m addressing a much maligned topic here in Shanghai: restaurant economics. I’m not exactly sure why, but there seems to be an idea that running a restaurant in Shanghai is lucrative. Yes, if you work hard and are fortunate, you can do well, but even the most ... Read More
One of my best friends during my years in New York was a Korean cook by the name of Hoon Song. Hoon was forever dependable for a good joke (even though his English wasn’t that strong), loved to sing while working and was a phenomenal cook—even in New ... Read More
Contrary to the general consensus, I must say that I generally get good service in Shanghai. While my ego would like to imagine that this has something to do with my restaurant and my lovingly crafted columns, I doubt that’s true. The truth is that my family and I ... Read More
While there are certainly exceptions to the rule, cooks are generally mobile and mercenary in mindset. We jump from restaurant to restaurant for a variety of reasons. Some moves are financially motivated, others in the hopes of greater creative control, and sometimes we sacrifice pride and money for knowledge and ... Read More
I am often asked what I miss most about cooking in New York. Truth be told, there isn’t a whole lot. I may gripe about local wine and cheese prices as much as the next guy, and lament how veal bones are surprisingly scarce, but the reality is that ... Read More
Recently I have found myself craving hamburgers. And not just any ol’ burger. Heck, I make a burger at the restaurant during brunch. Think it’s pretty tasty too, but it doesn’t seem to hit the proverbial “spot.” These days I’m looking for something compact, garnished simply and ... Read More
I think the mark of a true gourmand is their willingness to get deep into the heart of the human appetite. It’s easy to love caviar-laced inflections of haute cuisine while sipping on a flute of Titanic-salvaged bubbly, but can you also roll up your sleeves and get down ... Read More
We do many things to excess in the Paris of the East, but of all the vices to succumb to, the safest and least likely to destroy your family happens to be my area of specialty: food. From the free-flow Champagne brunches to all-you-can-eat Japanese extravaganzas, Shanghai is a proud ... Read More
The end of summer is approaching faster than I could have imagined. I’ve prattled on about in-season fruits and vegetables for the last two months, but I would be remiss if I didn’t address the phenomenon of the summer barbecue at least once before the season’s over ... Read More
Like all good Wisconsin boys, I grew up with cheese in all its glory: melted in sandwiches, rolled in nuts and port wine or gooey and stinky with no garnish at all. If you asked me about the state of Western cheese in China 10 years ago, I would have ... Read More
For most people, the word plagiarism brings to mind images of copying and pasting long passages from obscure sources online and claiming them as your own. It is a serious allegation in academic circles and can lead to expulsion and a serious loss of intellectual face. A far less publicized ... Read More
There are few things that are as ubiquitous in China as yangmei. Only in the markets for a few weeks around June, these dimpled delights combine the flavors of pomegranates, strawberries and cherries into a beautiful specimen of Shanghai seasonality. Looking mildly like beet-stained golfballs, yangmei have been consumed and ... Read More
When I had a life and went out to dinner on a regular basis, there were few phrases that excited me more than “off-menu.” Like pre-release movie screenings and gray market i-Phones, eating something not on the regular menu makes me feel special, like I’m part of a very ... Read More
All hippie jokes aside, there are very few things I love more than really good fresh mushrooms. I already mentioned this when I went on my wild food tirade, but June marks the true start to the wild mushroom season in China and I feel compelled to dedicate an entire ... Read More
It’s been making its way around the rumor mill for a little while now: Panda Express, the fixture of shopping mall food courts across the US, is about to enter China. Before we entertain questions of how the chain will do, there is the larger question of what to ... Read More
I spend over 12 hours a day thinking about food in one form or another. Between custom tasting menus, upcoming holiday specials, themed dishes and our regular menu changes, I am constantly mulling over flavor combinations, textural contrasts and the like. And, while I like to imagine I’m pretty ... Read More
Having received my first box a few weeks ago, I can officially declare that white asparagus season is upon us. While unfortunately delicate when raw, white asparagus is undoubtedly worthy of the praise heaped upon it by Europeans across the globe.
Food Nerd Stuff
White asparagus is essentially green asparagus ... Read More
Voting for our Readers’ Choice Restaurant and Bar Awards has started, so we asked two top chefs to guide us through this contentious debate: What makes a restaurant the best in town?
Sean Jorgensen from Avalon
Generally speaking, the headliner in any Shanghai restaurant is the food, with a distant ... Read More
Though we are sometimes loathe to admit it, not all customers are created equal. I like to think I treat all my patrons well, and I’m forever grateful when they pick us over thousands of other choices. I do my utmost to show them that their choice was not ... Read More