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It's nice to see a Chinese chef marrying traditional cooking with elements of international haute cuisine. Hopefully this will become a trend, and Ms Dunlop is

It's nice to see a Chinese chef marrying traditional cooking with elements of international haute cuisine. Hopefully this will become a trend, and Ms Dunlop is the perfect person to observe it. - I managed to find some low-res photos of his dishes on this review site: http://www.dianping.com/shop/5423060 http://www.dianping.com/shop/5423060 The 3 reviews are actually all positive despite one of them giving low ratings. They praise the place's traditional & intimate ambiance, intricate presentation and plating, and of course the taste of the food. Price per person is about RMB450, or US$73 - very high for China, as the article notes. - I couldn't find evidence via Google that Japanese people are discussing the restaurant online, but maybe it's spreading via non-public word of mouth. - After sharing this article on Facebook, I have friends interested in visiting Chengdu. Let's see if this becomes a small phenomenon among the international gastronomic crowd.

contingencies 12y ago
Good job tracking down the dianping reviews. There's 102 photos, with http://www.dianping.com/photos/23523792 http://www.dianping.com/photos/23523792 the only one showing a fully set table. It looks like there's a strategy of using slightly uncommon ingredients for the southwest (okra for example) and, predictably, the time-honored strategy of serving everything in tiny portions (very rare in China; generally the opposite is true), with perhaps slightly uncommon but not necessarily expensive Jingdezhen (景德镇) porcelain (FT author was clearly confused here). Silken tofu in whatever sauce is still silken tofu, pure and simple. I would have been more impressed to see hand-made tofu products, which Sichuan has significant history in, including famous derived sauces. I see at least two references to Yunnan cuisine: the banana leaf wrapped meat and vegetables (frankly doesn't appeal, Southeast Asia and Yunnan's Tai (傣; dai) of 西双版纳 (xishuangbanna; my home for 2.5 years) and 德宏 (dehong) do it better), then some dragon fruit (火龙果; huolongguo). I feel the reliance on imported seafood shows the chef's strategy is more a poorly masked play to popular taste and business than a truly local tradition driven culinary exploration, as FT has presented it.

contingencies 12y ago

Good job tracking down the dianping reviews. There's 102 photos, with http://www.dianping.com/photos/23523792 http://www.dianping.com/photos/23523792 the only one showing a fully set table. It looks like there's a strategy of using slightly uncommon ingredients for the southwest (okra for example) and, predictably, the time-honored strategy of serving everything in tiny portions (very rare in China; generally the opposite is true), with perhaps slightly uncommon but not necessarily expensive Jingdezhen (景德镇) porcelain (FT author was clearly confused here). Silken tofu in whatever sauce is still silken tofu, pure and simple. I would have been more impressed to see hand-made tofu products, which Sichuan has significant history in, including famous derived sauces. I see at least two references to Yunnan cuisine: the banana leaf wrapped meat and vegetables (frankly doesn't appeal, Southeast Asia and Yunnan's Tai (傣; dai) of 西双版纳 (xishuangbanna; my home for 2.5 years) and 德宏 (dehong) do it better), then some dragon fruit (火龙果; huolongguo). I feel the reliance on imported seafood shows the chef's strategy is more a poorly masked play to popular taste and business than a truly local tradition driven culinary exploration, as FT has presented it.