3/29/2023 0 Comments Chef chen rockford![]() His understanding of food is not the only reason for his success. “I realized that cooking, steam, saute, deep-fry, braise – I mean, most of the cooking methods are the same, just the spice we use at the end to furnish the dishes are a little different.” The only difference is the spices used,” Chen said. Then he came to the conclusion that “everybody uses the same ingredients.” It does not matter which cuisine it is, “you look at the ingredients in the walk-in, it’s really similar. Doesn’t matter what I make, I enjoy cooking.”Ĭhen still did give the question some thought and considered which cuisine or style he learned towards more. Chen said, “And one night there, a customer asked me: Richard, do you like working in a Chinese restaurant? Or do you like working in the Western or French restaurants? At that time, my answer was: I love cooking. ![]() Not too long after graduating from culinary school, Chen had been working in a French restaurant, called the Dining Room in Chicago. And customers get the benefits of eating fresh ingredients,” Chen said. “So making changes to the dishes or upgrading the menu is a lot easier. Moreover, he chose to incorporate more local and regional ingredients depending on seasonal availability. He decided to use mostly only fresh ingredients, rather than the canned or processed foods often found in Chinese food. “My idea at that time was: what if East meets West?” With the training and skills from culinary school, Chen set out to apply his knowledge from Western cuisine into cooking Chinese dishes. He wanted to learn all about the culinary field, and thus enrolled in the CIA. I wanted to do more than just the regular menu.” With this, he decided to learn about what Western cuisine was all about. “From East Coast to West Coast, almost all the restaurants have the same menu. So I kind of pursue, and want to go into the culinary field.”Ĭhen also noticed how Chinese restaurants in the U.S. “Every time I see something, I can get it done and really learn every angle of the vision really fast. “I realized, ‘Wow I worked every position in the restaurant,’” Chen said. When I went to the CIA, that’s when I really started learning all these techniques,” said Chen.Įntering high school, he gave some real thought into what he wanted to do in the future. “He was actually a really good chef, and I learned a lot of the Asian cooking techniques from when I was little. So kind of learning all the fundamentals of making the dumplings from scratch, making the peking duck pancake by scratch.”įrom a young age, he had come to understand the foundations of Chinese cooking from his father. And this time I would be working in the kitchen almost all day long, putting in 80-90 hours a week in the restaurant business. He said, “When I moved to the States when I was 12 years old, every week I started working in the Asian restaurant, I washed dishes at the time. Even during his childhood, he was constantly in the kitchen, helping his father’s restaurant business. Chen immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 12 years old. Since he was seven years old, he has been helping his father’s restaurant business. Originally from Taiwan, Chen followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a chef. Now, Chen is the executive chef at Red 8, located inside Encore. It was the first time ever for a Chinese restaurant to earn a Michelin Star in North America. This is the impression Americans have about “Chinese food.” Alum of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Chen is known for elevating Chinese cuisine, earning Wing-Lei, at Wynn Las Vegas, one Michelin Star in 2008. ![]() But the point is, they think the price should be very cheap and low.” I mean, I’d rather eat that everyday than McDonalds. And you get a nutritious meal that takes a lot of time and effort to prepare, and you get a whole entree coming out. “They think Chinese restaurants are supposed to be cheap,” said chef Richard Chen.
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