Gents, I’ve posted here plenty and everyone is entitled to their opinions of course as that’s what makes it fun. The subject of the SMCP article was primarily about Eight Tables and me. Yes I put some luxury ingredients like caviar on a dumpling but did you know China is the largest producer of high quality caviar (Kaluga) in the world now? And their Foie Gras farms are not far behind either HV or Rougie? They used to have great Yunnan truffles too! In the US or west, folks have a hard time with luxury Chinese ingredients like Fish Maw, Sea Cucumber, Bird’s Nest etc so we have to start here with more typical western luxury ingredients…see next post photo of new dish I launched yesterday. As to dim sum, there’s no comparison to China or HK as for instance their Har Gaw is made with live shrimp and costs $12 for 4 at places like Fook Lam Moon. We simply can’t do that here or we need to charge $30 for 4 to make a 50% cost. The problem with dim sum here (DB included), Vancouver, LA, wherever is that they are made en mass and frozen! Now some can freeze well but not delicate soup XLB’s or pan-fried SJB’s for example. At China Live we hired Koi Palace Head dim Sum chef Lin as he was tired of factory commissary work where everything is delivered to their various stores because labor for dim sum is so high it’s not sustainable at single unit restaurants. I don’t allow our dim sum products to be frozen (only if leftover from slower day becomes family meal) at China Live and I don’t even have a feeezer at Eight Tables. So we may all eat and ponder but you can’t be all things to all people unless you have great fresh ingredients, lots of fair costed skilled labor and a commitment to do the best possible. Quality costs money!
