dic foodies
ing
“We cook in front of people when they order, nothing is pre-cooked,
usually when you go to a Chinese restaurant things are pre-cooked in a back
room somewhere, here you can see us doing it and it’s part of the experience.”
Livas says he hopes to branch into private cooking classes.
Other Nordic foodies
I Crepe You Not may be novel, but Livas is not the first nordic foodie
to find opportunities in China. With Scandinavia undergoing something of
a food revolution, a movement that gained international attention thanks
to Copenhagen’s Noma, dubbed the “best restaurant in the world” from
2010 to 2012, Scandinavian chefs and restauranteurs are finding themselves
in global demand. The focus on seasonal produce and seafood appeals to
modern sensibilities on eating, and in China, the burgeoning middle class
with disposable income and a growing curiosity about different cuisines, are
luring many chefs and restauranteurs from all over the world to try their luck
in the Middle Kingdom.
China is the biggest importer of Norwegian seafood, with the countries
flag acting as a stamp of quality next to fish dishes on many menus. Last year
a Norwegian seafood dinner at Beijing’s St Regis hotel attracted 200 people.
In May, the Danish embassy held an open day which along with promoting
Danish design, had cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef John Kofod
Pederson and samples of organic Danish milk for the crowd of 3000 people
to try. Royal Smushi House in Beijing’s expatriate hub Sanlitun offers DanishJapanese fusion cuisine and even one of the cities most notable restaurants,
Capital M overlooking Tiananmen Square, counts smørrebrød as a signature
dish.
B A G S VÆ R D K O S T S K O L E
GYMNASIUM
Tættest på København
Torben Vester
One of the first Scandinavians to bring nordic food to the Chinese capital
was Dane Torben Vester, co-owner of French and Danish restaurant Bleu
Marine. The restaurant opened in 1998, offering only French food, but in
the early 2000s, with Vester missing the taste of home, Danish food was
added to the menu.
“I said to my now wife, ‘it’s strange that in a big city like Beijing you
can’t find Scandinavian food,’ so we decided to do something about it,” says
Vester.
Bleu Marine has become something of a home away from home for
many expatriat \