Chef chen chinese restaurant ca3/13/2023 ![]() Paired with white Burgundy - 2019 Vocoret “Les Forets” Chardonnay/Chablis - it’s dreamy.Įight Tables’ smoked squab (Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Miller) You can’t feel foie was meant to be in soup dumplings. One that makes you “ooh” with pleasure as the soup’s rich broth seeps from the dumpling. It was, in fact, an ecstatic couple of bites. I mistakenly assumed this would be just another example of expensive ingredients in a beloved classic. ![]() Then comes foie gras xiao long bao, the traditional Shanghainese soup dumplings sipped up with black vinegar and ginger. On a sheet of tofu accented by bracken ferns, it’s vegetal and soothing. It’s all green-on-green on leaf-like plate, a chlorophyl wonder. In fact, the latest addition of sommelier Peter Steiner banks on his longtime expertise in wine, including over eleven years at Chez Panisse developing their wine program in formative years.Ĭalifornia asparagus dotted with Kaluga caviar is one of the most beautiful courses. Wine pairings veer Old World perfection from Austria to Burgundy, France, with some aged Napa and Sonoma Coast adding local flair. Da Hong Pao big red robe oolong tea poured tableside evokes classic Chinese elegance with current sensibilities. There’s no point in picking a favorite as each flavor delights, whether a red jujube date in longan mochi (sweet), tangerine in finger limes (sour), tempura congee in Périgord truffles (fragrant) or silky, cherrywood smoked Mt. Still, as you weave from sweet, salty, sour, bitter and numbing to spicy, fragrant, sharp and smoky, the introductory Jiu Gong Ge takes you on a journey, one that engages each part of the palate and sense memory.Įight Tables’ uni shrimp toast (Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Miller) So summarizing key flavors of the most complex cuisine in a vast nation is no easy task. In my travels through Chengdu, China, just before pandemic, the inspiring RUYI Gastronomy dinners by LEGLE France walked me through 24 flavors representing Sichuan/Szechuan cuisine alone, just one of many of the diverse and wide-ranging cuisines in Chinese food. We know what’s coming first, and in many ways, it’s the highlight of the meal: Eight Tables’ now signature Jiu Gong Ge covers “nine essential flavors of Chinese cuisine” on one platter, in nine individual porcelain mini-plates. Warm service weaves us through ten courses seamlessly, as we settle in for the duration. A vintage record player emits the tranquilizing sounds of jazz, as you walk through an intimate bar room to your table in the generously spaced-out dining room and your individual banquettes separated by walls. So my return this June 2022 confirms his growing voice - and three Michelin perspective - on the menu, rendering it more global yet still Chinese/Tawainese at heart, with early favorites last year being aromatic liu jipu chicken in a bowl of jade and pearls or a Spring lamb in multiple forms, including a delectable sausage.īut this June, my husband Dan, The Renaissance Man, and I entered Eight Tables’ soothing parlor lined with black and white photos of Chen’s family - after initial drinks next door at the Blade Runner-meets-Shanghai Cold Drinks bar, an ideal pre-or post-dinner stop in Chen’s multi-faceted modern Chinese complex with cocktails from bar manager Yong Zhu. I visited just as chef de cuisine Floyd Nunn, who was sous chef or chef de partie at none other than three Michelin-starred Quince and Benu, came on board in 2021. shopping centers), each visit showcased flavors I experienced in China and Taiwan.Įight Tables’ nine flavors of China (Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Miller) Inspired by private chateau dining/supper clubs, called si fang cai in China and Taiwan (with a couple non-fine dining iterations in L.A. Modeled after an opulent Chinese home, the AvroKO-designed space is unlike most fine dining restaurants I’ve been to by thousands around the globe: it glows in warm, neutral tones, light and soothing, each alcove separately spaced out with fellow diners across the way ( Time magazine named it one of the “great places” of 2018). Chen’s long, rich history in SF and roots in Taiwan and China includes opening many restaurants, including legends - and old favorites of mine, now gone: James Beard-nominated Betelnut and Shanghai 1930. I’ve been each year to Eight Tables since chef-owner George Chen opened it. You enter via an elevator off a long Chinatown alley named after one of my favorite poets of the San Francisco Renaissance, Kenneth Rexroth. ![]() ![]() This upscale-modern Chinese restaurant hidden upstairs inside China Live houses merely eight tables so spaced out, it was meant for a post-pandemic world. I’ve said it since opening in 2017 and I’ll say it again: there’s no equal to Eight Tables in the country. Eight Tables’ California asparagus with Kaluga caviar (Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Miller)
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