Chefs in China Anxious for Return of U.S. Beef, Pork
Published: Jan 05, 2010
"Your Restaurant - Your Investment" was the theme for USMEF's recent semiannual U.S. red meat training session in Shanghai. Attendance was strong at the December meeting of USMEF's "Cookism Club" in Shanghai. Participants at the meeting offered testimonials on how U.S. meat can be used to bolster restaurant activity and profits.
One chef, Tony Guo of the Super Steak restaurant chain, was presented with an award from USMEF for his invention of an oven smoker that can be used to roast whole subprimals of beef and pork. His design has been adopted by more than 200 restaurants in China.
"My inspiration came from the slow-roasting concepts I saw during a USMEF tour in Texas," Guo said as he accepted the award.
Club members come from a wide range of foodservice establishments including steakhouses, hotel restaurants, hot pot, Yakiniku (Korean barbecue), traditional Chinese and quick service restaurants. Ten new members joined in 2009 and the Shanghai event attracted 44 chefs, 31 restaurant owner-operators and nine guest training chefs from more than 20 cities in the region.
"With China's consumer spending on the upswing and its economy rebounding quickly, restaurant operators are searching for new concepts that can generate traffic, improve revenue and offer novel but delicious food," said Steve Mo, USMEF southern China representative. "Shanghai is a very competitive and dynamic foodservice market and this training session introduced them to a number of innovative cooking concepts."
Several member chefs commented that they eagerly await the reopening of China to U.S. beef, which has not been directly exported to China - excepting Hong Kong - since December 2003. They are also hopeful that access for U.S. pork, banned since mid-2009 due to concerns about H1N1 influenza, also will be restored soon.
One chef, Tony Guo of the Super Steak restaurant chain, was presented with an award from USMEF for his invention of an oven smoker that can be used to roast whole subprimals of beef and pork. His design has been adopted by more than 200 restaurants in China.
"My inspiration came from the slow-roasting concepts I saw during a USMEF tour in Texas," Guo said as he accepted the award.
Club members come from a wide range of foodservice establishments including steakhouses, hotel restaurants, hot pot, Yakiniku (Korean barbecue), traditional Chinese and quick service restaurants. Ten new members joined in 2009 and the Shanghai event attracted 44 chefs, 31 restaurant owner-operators and nine guest training chefs from more than 20 cities in the region.
"With China's consumer spending on the upswing and its economy rebounding quickly, restaurant operators are searching for new concepts that can generate traffic, improve revenue and offer novel but delicious food," said Steve Mo, USMEF southern China representative. "Shanghai is a very competitive and dynamic foodservice market and this training session introduced them to a number of innovative cooking concepts."
Several member chefs commented that they eagerly await the reopening of China to U.S. beef, which has not been directly exported to China - excepting Hong Kong - since December 2003. They are also hopeful that access for U.S. pork, banned since mid-2009 due to concerns about H1N1 influenza, also will be restored soon.
"Your Restaurant - Your Investment" was the theme for USMEF's recent semiannual U.S. red meat training session in Shanghai. Attendance was strong at the December meeting of USMEF's "Cookism Club" in Shanghai. Participants at the meeting offered testimonials on how U.S. meat can be used to bolster restaurant activity and profits.
One chef, Tony Guo of the Super Steak restaurant chain, was presented with an award from USMEF for his invention of an oven smoker that can be used to roast whole subprimals of beef and pork. His design has been adopted by more than 200 restaurants in China.
"My inspiration came from the slow-roasting concepts I saw during a USMEF tour in Texas," Guo said as he accepted the award.
Club members come from a wide range of foodservice establishments including steakhouses, hotel restaurants, hot pot, Yakiniku (Korean barbecue), traditional Chinese and quick service restaurants. Ten new members joined in 2009 and the Shanghai event attracted 44 chefs, 31 restaurant owner-operators and nine guest training chefs from more than 20 cities in the region.
"With China's consumer spending on the upswing and its economy rebounding quickly, restaurant operators are searching for new concepts that can generate traffic, improve revenue and offer novel but delicious food," said Steve Mo, USMEF southern China representative. "Shanghai is a very competitive and dynamic foodservice market and this training session introduced them to a number of innovative cooking concepts."
Several member chefs commented that they eagerly await the reopening of China to U.S. beef, which has not been directly exported to China - excepting Hong Kong - since December 2003. They are also hopeful that access for U.S. pork, banned since mid-2009 due to concerns about H1N1 influenza, also will be restored soon.
One chef, Tony Guo of the Super Steak restaurant chain, was presented with an award from USMEF for his invention of an oven smoker that can be used to roast whole subprimals of beef and pork. His design has been adopted by more than 200 restaurants in China.
"My inspiration came from the slow-roasting concepts I saw during a USMEF tour in Texas," Guo said as he accepted the award.
Club members come from a wide range of foodservice establishments including steakhouses, hotel restaurants, hot pot, Yakiniku (Korean barbecue), traditional Chinese and quick service restaurants. Ten new members joined in 2009 and the Shanghai event attracted 44 chefs, 31 restaurant owner-operators and nine guest training chefs from more than 20 cities in the region.
"With China's consumer spending on the upswing and its economy rebounding quickly, restaurant operators are searching for new concepts that can generate traffic, improve revenue and offer novel but delicious food," said Steve Mo, USMEF southern China representative. "Shanghai is a very competitive and dynamic foodservice market and this training session introduced them to a number of innovative cooking concepts."
Several member chefs commented that they eagerly await the reopening of China to U.S. beef, which has not been directly exported to China - excepting Hong Kong - since December 2003. They are also hopeful that access for U.S. pork, banned since mid-2009 due to concerns about H1N1 influenza, also will be restored soon.