Check, Please

by+Leung+Mantao

A wide variety of international food is now popular in China. Is the Chinese public really warming up to Western cuisine， or is it seen as an exotic oddity？ How do the two styles of dining differ？

The most glaring difference between Chinese and Western restaurants might be the service. In average Chinese restaurants， waitresses never check back at tables unless the customer shouts across the room for them. Chinese waitresses dont work for tips， and often work the entire day， and perhaps the allure of a tip inspires Western servers to at least maintain the facade of cleanliness.

It should come as no surprise that the environments of different dining styles also contrast. Western restaurants are generally more willing to invest in atmosphere， but Chinese eateries adorned with elaborate

décor are increasing. Frequent dim lights in Western restaurants can hide surrounding ugliness， while candlelight enhances the

mystique of the diner on the other side of the table.

To me， the biggest difference between the Chinese and Western restaurants is the menu. Today， many Western restaurants pursue a minimalist approach and compress the menu down to a single page， while Chinese restaurants still compile a thick “book”.

To me， a minimalist approach would eliminate auxiliary spending in the kitchen and wasting preparation time on unnecessary procedures. Such a philosophy should place focus on providing the optimal materials to maximize the chefs creative skills. Its not about quantity， but quality. For this reason， most new Western restaurants， including those in five-star hotels， choose their food suppliers very carefully. This trend also influences the rise of private home cuisine， in which the chef maintains absolute control over the menu at any given time.

Contemporary Chinese restaurants， on the other hand， aim for inclusiveness – to cater to every single potential diner. This model has even grown over the last few years as many mainland businessmen have opened restaurants in the southern regions， including Hong Kong. Their menus are so heavy that diners must hold them with two hands. Every regional style can be found under one roof： Shanghai， Hangzhou， and Sichuan. Even their sections for salads and desserts stretch several pages， while highend Western restaurants opt for only seven or eight choices on the entire menu.

The evidence may point to Chinese cuisines development lagging behind. In legitimately traditional Chinese restaurants， diners will realize that the menu choices are simply slight variations on the same basic food， which all taste good. For instance， a Shanghai restaurant may offer three options for smoked fish， which all sell well.

In Ten Thousand Things： Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art， Lothar Ledderose， a German professor of the History of Art of Eastern Asia at the University of Heidelberg， illustrates the key features of Chinese cuisine. Frequent patrons of Chinese restaurants might wonder how a kitchen can serve one of over 100 different dishes within only a couple of minutes. The secret lies in the basic standards that many of them share： Mushrooms can be stir fried with pork and bamboo shoots， bean sprouts， and chicken cubes， and can also be grilled with bamboo shoots and chicken cubes.

Ledderose argues that Chinese culture is the most “industrialized”， providing a handful of variations that never stray beyond the basic foundation. Chinese writing， another example， seems extremely complicated， but actually requires only a few simple keystrokes to type using Cangjie input method. The elaborate patterns on ancient bronze ware sprouted from only a few basic lines.

Nevertheless， simple elements compose everything on the planet， and a talented chef can make a big difference. The trend even holds true for the thousands of terra-cotta warriors and horses buried in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang， who became unified Chinas first emperor in 221 B.C. – from a distance， the statues look identical， and all measure the exact same height， but closer inspection will reveal that variance in facial expression creates boundless possibilities.