Capital idea
It takes courage for a Hong Kong chef to open a restaurant specialising in Shanghainese cuisine in Shanghai. Chef Jereme Leung did just that - and to critical acclaim - with the Whampoa Club at Three on the Bund. Now he's hoping to repeat his success with a menu based on traditional Beijing-style recipes in - you guessed it - Beijing.
Leung's Whampoa Club Beijing (below left) is tucked into one of the last siheyuans, or courtyards, left in the city's Financial Street district. A series of private dining rooms open up onto the courtyard's lotus ponds (bottom).
'Whampoa Club Beijing was a natural growth for us after Shanghai as much international attention is focused on the two cities, given the Olympic Games [next year] and World Expo coming up [in 2010],' Leung says.
He isn't intimidated by the challenge of working in a different style of Chinese cooking in that cuisine's birthplace; instead, he sees it as part of what makes the restaurant industry fun.
'It pushes me to do a lot of research and learn a lot along the way working with various people,' says Leung, who likes to modify and update traditional recipes. He says working outside Cantonese cuisine, which he originally trained in, has helped him to grow as a chef. But he hasn't ruled out the possibility of a Hong Kong restaurant in the future.
'My philosophy is about respecting the local culinary culture. I study the dish, analyse the components and make adjustment only to those parts that don't appeal to modern customers, but without losing the original dish's integrity.'
With the traditional dish of ma po dou fou, Leung reduces the amount of fat used to cook the beancurd and adds assorted beans into the mix for a pleasant crunch. At Whampoa Club Beijing, the dish is paired with miniature bean wonton canapes.
A glance at the menu gives an idea of Leung's refined dishes. There's a duo of cabbage and spinach rolls with shrimp and scallops flavoured with yellow mustard and wasabi jelly (128 yuan), an assortment of four varieties of pickled crunchy vegetables (38 yuan), Beijing-style fermented bean paste and pork with hand-made noodles (below right: 48 yuan), tea-smoked mushrooms with hand-made cep noodles topped with five spice crushed ice (68 yuan), double-boiled free range chicken and wild mushroom consomme with truffle dumplings (88 yuan) and twice-cooked spare ribs with fresh and roasted garlic (108 yuan). Leung also offers a tasting menu for 488 yuan per person.
Whampoa Club Beijing is at 23A Jin Rong Da Jie, Xi Cheng District, Beijing, tel: 86 10 8808 8828.
