Canadian chef makes an artful start

Chef Bradley Hull likes to talk about food preparation as art, likening the plate to a chef as a canvas to an artist.

There wasn't much room to express his inner Picasso, however, when he first came to Portman's in Shanghai, an all-day hotel buffet restaurant which was virtually across the street from his previous gig.

But the Canadian chef's arrival coincided with plans for a creative makeover to an a la carte restaurant. So Hull bided his time, tweaking the status quo, developing a new menu and chasing new sources, including a natural freshwater salmon farm in Sichuan province as well as Australian beef from select Tasmanian breeders.