By Philip Newman
In Queens, home to New York’s largest Chinese community and renowned for its Chinese food, how does a restaurateur come up with even more original tastes and cuisines to tempt sophisticated diners?
Douglas Topous, manager of the Sheraton LaGuardia Hotel East in Flushing, had the solution — go to the source of it all.
Topous has brought from China four master chefs from the city of Hangzhou’s Wanghu Hotel to prepare the food of Zhejiang province.
The result is the “Festival of Hangzhou Cuisine” from now through July 15 in the hotel’s LaCasade restaurant.
Chefs Mao Yao Xiong, 42; Hu Xi Yun, 37; Jiang Fan Di, 37 and Li Chun Ge, 33, and Dai Wan Xin, 36, the “team leader,” general manager assistant, and only woman in the group, arrived June 27 after a 14-hour flight from Shanghai. They almost immediately began shopping for ingredients for their gastronomical creations.
It was not only the first visit to America for the group but the first trip beyond China’s borders “except for visiting Macao,” the former Portuguese colony adjacent to Hong Kong, explained their interpreter, Dr. Lesin Jong of Forest Hills.
What immediately impressed them upon their arrival of the United States?
“So many cars,” several of them laughed. “And so much space in America,” said another, who also remarked on the beauty of America from the view from a jetliner.
All the chefs have received numerous awards for their superior cooking and Hu, who is executive chef of Wanghu restaurant, is listed on his resumé as expert in such dishes as “Stewed abalone with prawn soup,” “Quick fried eel slices with shrimps” and “Sister song fish soup.”
The visiting chefs’ home base is a tourist and convention hotel situated in a scenic lake district 2 1/2 hours by car west of Shanghai. The late Chairman Mao Zedong once had a villa on an island in one of the lakes.
The Sheraton LaGuardia East hotel’s special two-week menu (it normally has two menus — Chinese and American Continental) has a wide range of entrees from crab, tuna and fish to beef, pork, spare ribs, and fish, dim sum, including cat ear-shaped noodle soup and appetizers that include steamed lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice and duck tongue.
“I decided it would be interesting to have a cultural swap,” said Topous, who has traveled extensively in China since 1994 but has never before imported Chinese chefs for a food festival. “We plan to send our chefs to China to prepare American specialties later this year.”
What will be typical American food for Chinese diners?
“We have yet to complete a menu, but we will start with steak,” he said. “That's pretty much a specialty of ours.”
The Sheraton LaGuardia East is at 135-20 39th Ave. in Flushing Center.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 136.
