Relocating from China to France was a big leap for Tony Xu, now the executive chef of Shang Palace in the Shangri-La Paris. Xu, who grew up in Chengdu, had never been to Paris before he accepted the job earlier this year, and at first, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go. But the draw of a new city was too good to pass up, and Xu made the journey overseas in May.
Thank you for signing up!
By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.
“I wanted to try it,” the chef tells Observer, speaking inside Shang Palace before the lunch service on a recent autumn day. “It’s a different environment, a different market. It was really about good timing. I came and jumped right in. I really like it here; there is so much to try and discover.”
Joining a well-established restaurant like Shang Palace, which already has one Michelin star, wasn’t simple. The refined Chinese eatery has a collection of regular guests, both locals and visitors from out of town, and it was important that certain beloved dishes, like the Peking duck, remained intact. Xu quickly noticed that French customers have a specific idea of Chinese cuisine, and expect large, shared portions of food to accumulate on the table. They want their assumption of what Chinese food involves, not necessarily what Xu wants to showcase.
“It’s a very different market,” says Xu, who speaks almost no French. “I respect what [the restaurant] has because my customers have been coming here for many years, and they’re used to it. I can’t make big changes, so I’m slowly introducing new dishes and new versions. It’s like the house is already built, very tall, and I’m not here to build a new one. I am here to deliver decorations and make small tweaks to make it more beautiful. I’m doing it step by step.”
Initially, Xu made adaptations to the existing recipes based on his 20 years........