"SAN FRANCISCO - Taiwan-born chef George Chen, whose family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1967, remembers vividly how his school lunch of braised pork and Chinese sauerkraut between two pieces of bread was looked at by his classmates. 'Oh, God, what are you eating? That's gross,' Chen recalled during a recent busy lunch hour at his San Francisco restaurant and bar, China Live, on the edge of the nation's oldest Chinatown."
"The immigrant kid who felt like he had to hide his food has built a reputation for serving Chinese fine dining in the Bay Area. At China Live, Chen is like a circus ringmaster overseeing a dumpling-making station, a stone oven roasting Peking ducks, a noodle station and a dessert station churning sesame soft serve. With all this, he hopes to one day revive his upstairs restaurant, Eight Tables, where course-by-course dinners ranged from $88-$188."
"Upscale Chinese American restaurants, from San Francisco to New York City, have sprung up in recent years, garnering buzz with their refined tasting menus that soar far beyond Chinese takeout-food staples. Many will put special spins on traditional Lunar New Year dishes for the Year of the Fire Horse, which started Tuesday. Doing creative deconstructions of Chinese foods is part of their culinary hallmark, as many chefs are hungry to showcase their own culture."
George Chen, Taiwan-born chef who immigrated with his family, creates Chinese fine dining at China Live in San Francisco, presenting multiple live stations for dumplings, Peking duck, noodles and desserts. He plans to revive his upstairs Eight Tables tasting menu and launch Asia Live in Santa Clara with his wife. Upscale Chinese-American restaurants across U.S. cities now offer refined tasting menus and creative deconstructions of traditional dishes, including Lunar New Year variations. Chefs use elevated techniques to showcase cultural heritage. Restaurateurs face challenges persuading some diners to accept fine-dining price points for Chinese cuisine.
Read at The Mercury News
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