ALL YOU CAN EAT AND DRINK

Shanghai is a culinary melting pot worth celebrating for its creativity

Food is such an intrinsic part of every person's identity that it is impossible to compare and be objective. For me to name a particular city as China's Capital of Gastronomy is to open myself to a tsunami of vitriol.

But if we're talking in terms of the most effervescent international dining scene in China, I reckon most people would agree with me that there's only one clear candidate - Shanghai.

Through the years, this megapolis has been a magnet for a bevy of foreign food establishments and world-renowned culinary maestros. Legendary French chef Joel Rubuchon made his foray into China here in 2016, opening L'Atelier de Jo...l Robuchon along the Bund. Some of his illustrious neighbors along the iconic waterfront include Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Paul Pairet and Alvin Leung. Shanghai was also the place where the prestigious Michelin food guide made its China debut in 2017.

Michelle Garnaut, who opened one of the first Western restaurants on the Bund in 1999, says that the pace of development of the dining scene in the city has been nothing short of phenomenal.

"When we opened on the Bund 20 years ago, Shanghai was a very different city. The Bund in the 1990s was not the glamorous, glitzy and spectacular strip it is today. The Bund then was shabby. The number of restaurants in the city was roughly 10 percent of today's total," says Garnaut, the CEO & founder of the M Restaurant Group.

"The market has changed beyond recognition. Shanghai is a very international city, and as a result, the restaurant scene is quite interesting. Today, Shanghai enjoys a very diverse dining scene, especially when it comes to Western cuisine. Local diners can find everything from Hawaiian street food to new age molecular cuisine, and special dining events happen regularly throughout the year."

Crystyl Mo, a food expert in China who is also the academy chair for China and Korea for the World's 50 Best Restaurants, shares the same sentiment, noting that the years from 2005 to 2016 could be considered "a golden age" for the city's dining scene.

"Shanghai has definitely got the most vibrant dining scene in China. No other Chinese city even comes close, and this is largely because consumers in Shanghai care more about their food and are willing to spend on fine dining," says Mo.

The sophistication of the Chinese restaurant scene has also become more pronounced. Take for instance T'ang Court, a Cantonese restaurant within Langham Hotel, which was the only dining establishment in the city to be awarded three Michelin stars in the inaugural Michelin Guide Shanghai two years ago. Also, of the seven establishments that were awarded two stars, four were Chinese restaurants.

But the guide had its fair share of criticism, with many pointing out how the majority of Michelin star recipients were Cantonese dining establishments. Some food experts have explained that this could likely be due to the fact that Cantonese cuisine is the most prevalent Chinese food that foreigners are familiar with. After all, the majority of those who emigrated from China in the past were from Guangdong.

Shanghainese chef Anthony Zhao explains that this could also be due to the nature of Cantonese food.

"I think non-Chinese diners also find the flavors of Cantonese food to be more palatable. Shanghainese food is too sweet for many. Sichuan or Hunan food, on the other hand, is too spicy," he says.

Others have argued that the Michelin Guide judges restaurants based on values that are somewhat irrelevant in China. While Western food guides usually focus on creativity and individuality, Chinese cuisine is centered on tradition.

The issue of creativity, too, is highly subjective, says food writer Christopher St Cavish.

"Chinese cuisine is not about large, wholesale reinventions or novel inventions. Most of the culinary innovation takes place on a smaller, humbler scale," he says.

One example of creativity on this scale, says St Cavish, is seen in how chef Wei Yi offers a twist of the Shanghainese staple of white cut chicken by using goose instead. Wei then uses the goose fat to create noodles that have made him famous in the city.

But should Chinese chefs snub the Western perception of creativity and stick to their guns?

Zhao thinks that embracing the sort of creativity that is valued outside of China could help better promote Chinese cuisine on the world stage. That being said, doing so would require time.

"Traditionally, most chefs in China view themselves as workers, not culinary artists. They don't bother much with being innovative. They just want to perfect their dishes."

The situation, though, has been changing, with several chefs pushing the boundaries with modern renditions of Chinese classics in recent times. Zhao says that one of his favorite dishes is the drunken chicken from the now defunct Whampoa Club, a high-end restaurant along the Bund that was helmed by Singaporean chef Jeremy Leung.

Unlike the original dish where the chicken is served on a plate filled with Shaoxing wine, this modern rendition comes in the form of a martini glass with chicken paired with granita made from Chinese wine. Another chef who Zhao identifies as a pioneer of the modern Chinese culinary movement is Tony Lu of Fu He Hui, a Michelin-starred restaurant that has received plaudits for its refined vegetarian creations.

Other types of modern Chinese fare have also been gaining traction outside of the Chinese mainland.

Mo says this is due to the growing number of young, open-minded Chinese chefs who are taking their modern interpretations of Chinese cuisine around the world.

"Today, there are more and more restaurants in cities like New York that serve Chinese fare that isn't Cantonese," she adds.

"Take for instance Hunan Slurp, which offers authentic Hunan food in hip and modern settings. There's also Hao Noodle, which combines great interior design with Shanghai favorites like soup dumplings and scallion oil noodles."

Another noteworthy establishment, she notes, is the ambitious China Live food emporium in San Francisco's Chinatown. Set up by chef George Chen, the $20 million-complex comprises a home-style Chinese food eatery, an upscale retail space offering premium Chinese ingredients, a cafe, a bar and a fine-dining restaurant called Eight Tables that serves sifangcai, or "private chateau cuisine", for $225 per person. Mo points out that China Live is expected to expand to other cities in the US in the near future.

It also appears that Sichuan food might just be the new darling of the global dining scene. In Macao, acclaimed Taiwan chef Andre Chiang is creating modern interpretations of this cuisine at Sichuan Moon in Wynn Palace. Over at the Shard in London, the upscale Hutong restaurant serves Shandong and Sichuan cuisine with a contemporary spin. In Paris' 9th arrondissement, Carnet de Bord offers diners authentic Sichuan fare that is not limited to tongue-numbing spicy hotpot broths.

And then there's Yu Bo, the acclaimed Chinese chef dubbed "the Ferran Adri - of Chengdu" who's been leaving diners spellbound with his immaculate knife skills and creative take on Sichuan fare in Los Angeles, California.

It is certainly fitting that Sichuan cuisine's global footprint has been growing. After all, Chengdu, the capital of the sprawling province of some 87 million people, was once named as Asia's first City of Gastronomy.

Wait, but who would have the audacity to make such a nomination?

Don't look at me. It was UNESCO.

Contact the writer at alywin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/30/2019 page42)