Chef gets nod for prestigious Beard Award

His parents wanted him to do what they did: go into the bakery business. But Zhu Wei didn't want to have anything to do with baking. He wanted to do "dishes".

Now, going against his parents' wishes and making those dishes has earned the chef and owner of Chengdu Gourmet in Pittsburgh a slot as one of the 20 semi-finalists in the "Best Chef" category in the Mid-Atlantic region for the James Beard Foundation Award, a prestigious honor in the US restaurant business.

Zhu opened his restaurant in 2014. He said that he has never advertised it, and relies on customers' recommendations.

"I was pleasantly surprised when they notified me of this honor a couple of weeks ago. Some of my customers sent me cards of congratulations, and the restaurant has seen more customers than before the news came out. I guess this award is a big deal."

Three other Pittsburgh chefs are with Zhu in the semi-finals for the Mid-Atlantic region. One is in Zhu's category of Best Chef; the others are in the categories of Outstanding Pastry Chef and Rising Star Chef of the Year, which honors a chef 30 or younger.

Final nominees for the Beard Awards will be announced on March 15, and winners will be honored in a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 1.

Zhu, who grew up in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, has been working in the food industry since he was 15.

"Both of my parents specialized in bakery and wished that I would follow their footsteps. However, I found bakery repetitive and boring. I was more interested in doing dishes," he said.

Against his parents' wish, Zhu left bakery and went to work at various restaurants to learn how to cook with experienced chefs when he was 18.

"I like to study how to create dishes that are both pleasing to the eyes and palate. It brings me great pleasure to produce a delicious and pleasing looking dish," said Zhu, whose bakery training at an early age gave him skills in food presentation.

After a few years of apprenticeship under chefs, Zhu opened his own restaurants. Some failed, some succeeded.

A friend of Zhu's persuaded him to come to the US in 2005 to learn more about the restaurant business and he landed in New York. "However, I found most dishes in Sichuan restaurants here were not that great, not even as good as mine. As far as cooking is concerned, there was nothing for me to learn," Zhu said.

In 2008, Zhu decided to return to China for good

and went to visit a friend in Pittsburgh before heading back. That trip changed his plan.

"I found only one Sichuan cuisine restaurant in Pittsburgh, and the dishes were not good at all. It happened that some restaurant was looking for help and convinced me to stay," Zhu said.

Zhu's cooking skills caught the attention of two Chinese PhD graduates. Unable to find good jobs in their field, they persuaded Zhu to join them to open their own restaurant as partners in 2011. It was a great success.

Wanting to have his own business, Zhu left the partnership and opened Chengdu Gourmet in 2014.

Chengdu Gourmet attracts American and Chinese customers with its somewhat modified Sichuan cuisine. Many of the key ingredients are directly from Sichuan, said Zhu.

"Most of my spices are US certified imports - such as spicy bean pastes, Sichuan peppercorns, Yibing cardamine bean sprouts, and star anise," he said.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 03/03/2017 page1)