By Wang Yufan

Bon Appétit! Chinese restaurants seek to expand global presence

By Wang Yufan

Chinese Huaiyang Cuisine chef Tong Yuncai wows the audience with his cooking skills at the NTD Television International Culinary Competition in Times Square, New York City, on June 26, 2014.

Bobby Lo, executive chef of the Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club Clubhouse, poses at La Liste’s 2016 gala event.

Soon after the elegant, crispy dim sum dishes hit the tables inside the golden hall of the headquarters of France’s Foreign Ministry on the banks of the Seine, they disappeared— almost in a flash. Brought by Bobby Lo, executive chef of the Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club Clubhouse, the pastries captured the palate of each and every guest with their delectable flavor, mellow taste and healthy ingredients.

Bobby Lo was the only Chinese chef to be invited to showcase Chinese gastronomy on site at the December 5 award ceremony where global restaurant review aggregatorLa Listereleased its latest rankings of the 1,000 best restaurants worldwide. Hundreds of officials, diplomats, chefs, food critics and journalists attended the gala event, honoring top dining establishments and savoring the glamorous food presented by representative award winners.

A List of Lists

Launched in December 2015 by France’s Foreign Ministry as an answer to London’s annual ranking of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants,La Listeis a “guide of guides” that provides a scientific and objective global selection of top eateries based on an algorithm system with data from nearly 400 dining guidebooks and online review sites. Its criteria cover a wide spectrum from the quality of food to ambience and service. This year marks the second edition ofLa Liste, which crowns French chef Guy Savoy’s eponymous Paris restaurant the best in the world. In geographic terms, Japan tops the list with 116 entries, France comes in second with 113 and China (including China’s mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) ranks third with 100 restaurants on the roster, a leap from last year’s fourth place with 69 restaurants nominated.

Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club Clubhouse ranks 15th among the Top 1,000, leading Chinese restaurants on the list. When interviewed by a Paris-based TV station, Chef Lo said: “It is a great honor to be invited as the only Chinese restaurant to this grand event. We really appreciateLa Liste’s recognition and support. When it comes to food, apart from taste and presentation, food safety is also very important … [We will] make sure we consistently deliver quality and safe food to our customers.”

Culture Through Cuisine

“Gastronomy is an interpreter of culture, and both China and France have a long history of food culture,” said Guan Jian, Chinese Minister-Counselor to France, while attending theLa Listeaward ceremony. “With such a shared background, the two countries harbor great potential for exchanges in terms of culinary history, brands and culture.”

He stressed that Sino-French exchanges in food and cuisine are of great significance to promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, and thatLa Listehas provided a precious opportunity for global food lovers to understand and celebrate Chinese gastronomic culture.

Throughout its history, China has fostered a stunning diversity of cuisine styles and a colorful culinary culture, in which the country takes enormous pride. Food has no borders. The diverse Chinese culinary delights, represented by light and refined Cantonese dishes, crisp Peking roast duck, spicy Sichuan recipes, mouthwatering seafood delicacies of Fujian and Hong Kong’s morning tea, not only please the Chinese palate, but have also transcended their cultural origins and become worldwide sensations.

Overseas presence of Chinese cuisine can be traced back to the late 19th century, when the first-generation Chinese immigrants in the United States set up eateries as a way of making a living. After more than 100 years of development, restaurants serving dif-ferent styles of Chinese cuisine can be found on every continent, and Chinese culinary culture has successfully made its way into the mainstream society of some countries.

A dazzling night view of Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand.

Peking Roast Duck

Squirrel Fish

A man looks at a menu for a Chinese restau-rant serving duck for lunch in Chinatown, London.

Chinese Restaurants Gain Global Acclaim

Number of restaurants from each country inLa Liste’sTop 1,000 (Top 4)

However, the past was hardly idyllic. The first wave of overseas Chinese restaurants traveled a long path full of twists and turns, due to such obstacles as language barriers, financial challenges, and small-scale, fragmented operation with a lack of connection and cooperation. Furthermore, their inability to adapt to the new customers in a new environment made it more dif ficult to break into the local high-end dining market.

Around the early 1980s, a group of time-honored Chinese catering companies including Quanjude and Donglaishun began to set their eyes on the global market, marking the second wave of overseas Chinese restaurants. Over the years, unexpectedly, these establishments had to struggle to overcome various bottlenecks that hindered their growth, such as outdatedtechniques, talent shortages, fierce competition, slim profit margins and poor branding.

In the 21st century, as a trend of fusion cuisine emerged and developed worldwide, established overseas Chinese eateries have been heavily exposed to the influence of local cuisines, combining traditional Chinese flavors with popular cooking techniques in respective countries. Thus, the clock is ticking down on a new round of reform of Chinese catering industry with focus on “reviving Chinese cuisine”.

Singapore’s historic Chinatown is a bustling mix of tradition and modernity.

Wu Li (right), president of the Supervision Committee of the WFCCI, signs a strategic partnership agreement with Philippe Faure, chairman of the French Foreign Ministry’s Tourism Promotion Council and founder of La Liste.

Chinese Gastronomy Goes Global

On June 27, 2016, the Beijing-based Jiangbian Chengwai Grill Fish officially opened its first overseas outlet in Singapore. According to its founder Li Changjiang, preparations for this project took nearly a whole year. Adopting a localization strategy, the restaurant chooses locally common seafood as its main ingredients, adjusts cooking methods accordingly and largely employs Singaporean workers.

In 2011, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a guiding opinion to promote healthy development of the catering industry and speed up the pace of Chinese cuisine to “go global”, which heralded a new wave of overseas Chinese restaurants. So far, more than 100 Chinese catering brands including Jiangbian Chengwai have opened branches outside of China, dedicated to bringing Chinese culinary culture to the world with dishes, environments and services more welcoming to foreign diners — either maintaining tradition or fostering transformation.

According to theReport on the Development of Chinese Restaurants Worldwide 2016released by the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry (WFCCI) on June 25, at present, there are some 400,000 Chinese restaurants outside of China, mostly found in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia, showing a growing trend that features internet-based services, food diversity and cross-border operation. Despite their widespread presence, though, overseas Chinese catering brands are still in early stages of development. Apart from insufficient knowledge of local laws and regulations concerning food safety, labor protection and customs clearance, a shortage of international management talent is another obstacle that has restricted the overseas expansion of Chinese catering companies and requires joint ef f orts from government, industry associations and the enterprises themselves to conquer.

AtLa Liste’s gala award ceremony, Wu Li, president of the Supervision Committee of the WFCCI, said: “Today is a big day for gourmets around the world. As we know, France was the first major country in the West to establish diplomatic relations with China, andLa Listeis the first world-class dining ranking to introduce outstanding Chinese cuisine to the rest of the world. We appreciateLa Liste’s contribution to highlighting Chinese gastronomy on the global stage.”

On behalf of the WFCCI, he signed a formal agreement with Philippe Faure, chairman of the Tourism Promotion Council under the French Foreign Ministry and founder ofLa Liste, for the establishment of a strategic partnership, and extended an invitation to Faure to hold next year’s awards pageant in Beijing.

According to Wu, the WFCCI has teamed up with industry players to accelerate product upgrading and technical innovation, and initiated a series of campaigns to promote Chinese cuisine globally. Under one such initiative, which is being planned, the organization will join hands with partners in Southeast Asia and other countries involved in the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative to launch a food journey program, aiming at allowing fantastic Chinese flavors to set of f taste bud fireworks along the Belt and Road.

Food has no borders. The diverse Chinese culinary delights not only please the Chinese palate, but have also transcended their cultural origins and become worldwide sensations.