Shanghai > Articles > CW Magazine SH >

The Dish

THE DISH: Will Write for Food
Posted Jul 2nd 2008 6:58p.m. by shanghai_cw (The Dish)

Crib sheet: professional eating as a career

Ah the life of a food writer. Could there be anything more cushy or pleasurable? And can't anyone eat and write about it? How hard could it be? I often get asked these questions. The short answer is: yes, this job is ... Read more »

THE DISH: Home on La Grange
Posted Jul 2nd 2008 6:53p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

A maison for Francophile gourmands

Is there a certain charm, a certain magic to feeling like one is in France, when one is really in Shanghai? A French chef, a French hostess (his wife) and a French owner, walking the boards in a 44-seat varnished wood and glowing copper-toned restaurant in the middle of the ... Read more »

THE DISH: Tempura Generations
Posted Jul 2nd 2008 6:48p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

150 years of deep-fried expertise now in Shanghai

Karaku's chef Toyoichiro Seki stands behind the counter in his head-to-toe black chef's uniform. He passes his hand over the bubbling oil in the wok. "What temperature do you fry the tempura at?" I ask. "Oh, I have never used a thermometer," he laughs good-naturedly at the preposterous ... Read more »

THE DISH: The Missing Spice
Posted May 24th 2008 5:49p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

Follow the crowds to the restaurants you've never heard of

It's 8:15pm on a Wednesday night. A crowd of mid-level office types sits in a shabby entry hallway to a cavernous restaurant with a gray tile floor below, and fluorescent lights above. An amateurish mural of Sichuan-style floral paper cuts adorns the wall. The waitresses wear frayed brown ... Read more »

THE DISH: Eating In
Posted May 16th 2008 5:49p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

It's the new eating out, only cheaper and sexier

Eating out was an occasion that elicited extreme excitement when I was growing up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My parents would take me to Charlie's, a dimly-lit working class joint near Harvard Square with dark red vinyl booths. We ate immense portions of Greek salad, pork chops and chicken wings ... Read more »

THE DISH: Intimate Appeal
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 8:57p.m. by shanghai_cw (The Dish)

CW Beijing's dining columnist reflects on dining between cities

After visiting several of your city's great restaurants, I was impressed by the stress placed on intimacy and warmth in enhancing the dining experience. Beijing continues to pride itself on the size of its skyscrapers and the width of ... Read more »

THE DISH: The Kitchen as Laboratory
Posted Jun 4th 2008 11:06p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

Jean-Georges has fine dining (and French fries) down to a science

"We're experimenting with some of Heston Blumenthal's approaches to French fries," Eric Johnson, chef partner of Jean-Georges, told me a few months ago. "Come in anytime, our kitchen is your kitchen," he said. I did not need any more prompting. Heston Blumenthal is the chef extraordinaire at three-Michelin-starred ... Read more »

THE DISH: Eat as the Chinese Eat
Posted Jun 4th 2008 11:03p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

Embracing the double-dip and other acquired tastes of the Chinese table

According to a report from the Journal of Food Safety, all of China is going to the hospital in a hand basket, and it's a wonder we've even survived this long. We chopstick-using, communal-dish-sharing, germ-spreading devotees are guilty of ruthless, non-stop, everyday "double dipping." Astonishingly, this food safety ... Read more »

THE DISH: The Planet is Low on Caviar
Posted Jun 4th 2008 10:58p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

The ultimate edible luxury becomes scarcer every year

Is your diet legal? Sometimes I wish mine wasn't: USDA and Japanese beef, some of my favorites, are black market foods in China. And Russian sturgeon fishing is currently banned, so if you see Russian caviar on the menu, it's poached. But rare foods are rarely cheap, and ... Read more »

THE DISH: Imagine This - Women in the Kitchen
Posted May 16th 2008 6:44p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

Shanghai's female chefs say they can take the heat of leadership

Whether or not a "woman's place is in the kitchen" depends on which kitchen you are talking about. At home, women are often the cooks, although in women-wear-the-pants Shanghai homes, men are frequent partners at the stove. However, in the professional kitchen, and specifically in the "hot kitchen" (the ... Read more »

THE DISH: What's Your Dianping Rating?
Posted May 19th 2008 11:11p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

One website, three million restaurant reviews, and the man behind it all

I have thought of Zhang Tao frequently in the years since I met him in 2004. The website that he launched in April 2003 has steadily grown to become my indispensable resource for dining information. Dianping.com is now the largest restaurant review site in China with over six million ... Read more »

THE DISH: The Wonders of Oz
Posted Jun 4th 2008 10:54p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

Join my eating adventures at Shanghai's proliferating Australian venues

I smiled to myself when I learned that a handful of Australian restaurants have recently sprung up in Shanghai. Clearly my latest eating quest had been determined: to investigate, in a most earnest manner, the Aussie cuisine oeuvre. I started with Kakadu (Australian), a new restaurant featuring aboriginal ingredients from ... Read more »

THE DISH: The Taste of Memory
Posted Jun 4th 2008 10:50p.m. by crystyl (The Dish)

Recalling 2007 through flavors and foods

A new year. New possibilities. New foods waiting to be eaten. As I look forward to another year of eating and cooking, I also have nostalgia for treats from my New England childhood: affordable wholegrain breads–the kind that are heavy in your hand and densely chewy, an overflowing Philly-style ... Read more »

Editor's Pick Events

Top users

in Shanghai

  • jeremyseow
  • cameronwillard
  • raoulestlavie
  • rickyyao
  • madisonave
  • thebundpolice
  • ccspudong
  • hubs1
  • wendyland1999
  • invidia
  • the_shelter
  • gary_floyd
  • smk_
  • danalan
  • emta
  • polarbear
  • zoexu
  • mariella
  • lw831
  • miloye