iCHiNA Brings Elevated Cantonese Cuisine to Silicon Valley

By Lavinia Lumezanu Nov. 28th, 2022

See full story at CITY GUIDE SAN FRANCISCO

When thinking of Chinese cuisine, one’s mind wanders to a lazy evening of ordering in and getting a myriad of oyster pail containers filled with comfort food. iCHiNA in Silicon Valley is here to completely change that perception. It aims to elevate Chinese cuisine by offering a luxury experience that gives visitors a glimpse into the culture and tradition of Cantonese food in a modern and elegant setting.

Located right in the heart of Silicon Valley and surrounded by tech giants with refined palates at every corner, iChina offers a unique experience for every customer.

The JiuBa cocktail lounge on the first floor is set against a beautiful gilded bar and it’s guaranteed to impress visitors from the second they step inside. It’s the perfect destination to have a few artfully created drinks and small plates.

It’s also the perfect place for the newly launched Dim Sum Afternoon Tea Service, which happens to be the first of its kind in the Bay Area. Crafted by International Pastry Chef Graham Hornigold, iChina’s Dim Sum Afternoon Tea Features Sweet and Savory Bites accompanied by a World-Class Collection of Locally Sourced Tea.

The full service dining on the second floor takes patrons into a world of velvet and luxury filled with delicious dishes, intricate plating, lavish ingredients and stellar service. An exposed wine cellar features refined selections to complement the meal, and the craft cocktail menu offers drinks that cater to exquisite tastes.

The four exclusive private dining spaces include a unique virtual reality room. Each setting is inspired by China’s ancient imperial palaces and designed with an eye for grandeur. There’s the Imperial Room, which sits about 12 people at a round table in an intimate setting that inspires conversation and connection.

The Heritage Room gives guests and front row seats to the mastery that happens in the kitchen, as they can see the chef prepare every dish from their seats. The Dynasty Room is the perfect setting for a power dinner with the team as it features the latest technology allowing guests to project slides, movies, and other types of media.

The VR Realm is a true Silicon Valley masterpiece and its first virtual reality dining room. Guests can select a theme for the setting and immerse themselves in the imagery projected onto the walls and tables.

The culinary team behind iCHiNA includes internationally recognized and esteemed chefs who have worked at Michelin-starred restaurants globally before. The chef-driven menu is designed to pay homage to Cantonese cuisine by preserving and enhancing the food’s inherent tastes with artful use of cooking techniques, spices, and flavor profiles

Chef Mike Shen is the master of Cantonese cuisine. He has years of experience working at Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, including his role as North America corporate chef of the Hakkasan Group as well as positions at Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Singapore and more.

A Singapore native, he has more than 15 years of experience with the Michelin-starred Hakkasan Group and is credited for developing extravagant dishes for the menu at Hakkasan New York.

Chef Xia An He is a well known dim sum master. He has designed a variety of delicious steamed and crispy dim sum platters, all handmade in-house at iChina.

Then there’s the international pastry consultant and globe-trotting pâtissier Graham Hornigold. Chef Graham has spent the last twenty-five years honing his skills in some of the finest hotels and restaurants including Mandarin Oriental and The Lanesborough. He completes the afternoon tea experience with elevated class.

He’s also the creator of the iCHiNA Koi pond, a desert experience featuring jasmine tea blancmange and chilled melon soup with muscovado gummies and fruit like mango and yuzu for that special tanginess.

Some of the must-try dishes at iCHiNA are Cantonese classics ranging from dim sum to hand-pulled noodles with shimeji, enoki and shitake mushrooms to popular dishes modernized with high-end ingredients, such as succulent Peking duck with caviar.