There is a good chance you have never visited a Chinese restaurant quite like iChina. Not only is it the most extravagant Chinese restaurant you’ll likely dine in, it might also be the largest. In fact, it’s enormous, occupying two levels across over 12,000 square feet.

We are excited to share iChina is included on AlmanacNews.com’s The Food Party! blog as a result of hosting writer and chef Laura Stec. Laura highlighted the beautiful interior design of the restaurant, delicious vegetarian prix fixe menu and the cocktail beverages in the article “Food Partying! with iChina and Wild Onion”.

Silicon Valley: What's New In Silicon Valley This Month

Chelsea Davis writes a great overview of iChina in a feature for Forbes

Liam Mayclem features iChina’s immersive virtual reality dining room on his weekly guide to the Bay Area’s top entertainment choices.

What do moms really want on Mother’s Day? In addition to spending time with family, kicking up her feet and avoiding the kitchen is probably high on that list! Celebrate mom by giving her day off with these local restaurants that are offering dining, delivery and special take out options for Mother’s Day brunch.

Recently unveiled last August, the lavish restaurant has become exclusively popular due to the overall opulent experience they carefully provide, from their luxurious 6-course tasting dinner, all the way down to the art-deco filigrees of their aesthetic.

Covid hit just as San Jose was beginning a true culinary Renaissance. We even got our first Michelin Star restaurant in 2017. Over this entire decade it feels like expectations have changed and there is a general shift away from cookie-cutter chain restaurants to more unique offerings. Old strip malls from my childhood that were filled with fast food joints like Taco Bell and Little Caesars now have Vietnamese Cafes, Indian Pizzerias, and wine bars featuring tapas.

iChina Restaurant Opens in Silicon Valley

The two-story New American Chinese concept features a glitzy design inspired by a historic artwork

Words by: Will Speros • Photos by Noah Webb

A swanky new restaurant has debuted on Santa Clara, California’s culinary scene. iChina, the first New American Chinese concept in Silicon Valley, was crafted by HHD Hong Kong East Holiday Design Consultants in homage to the historic Chinese painting, “A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains,” from the Song Dynasty. An ornate design scheme further channels the bygone opulence of Old World China through a glitzy, Art Deco-style lens.

Inside iChina, a two-level mall restaurant with tasting menus, a cocktail bar and multiple private rooms.

This week, Silicon Valley is getting an ambitious, opulent Chinese restaurant that wants to set the standard for modern Chinese food in the region.

iChina opens Aug. 20 at the Westfield Valley Fair mall, which straddles Santa Clara and San Jose. The 300-seat restaurant will serve contemporary interpretations of classic Chinese dishes, like broccoli beef made with kobe ribeye steak. Chef Eddie Lam, formerly of San Francisco’s Crystal Jade and San Jose’s Straits, says he is positioning iChina in the same category of Bay Area high-end Chinese restaurants like Empress by Boon and China Live in San Francisco.

Why one Silicon Valley restaurant invested big in immersive, high-tech meals

SinceSince its grand opening last August, modern Chinese restaurant iChina has captured the attention of curious South Bay locals. Located alongside more casual restaurants like Shake Shack and the Cheesecake Factory in Santa Clara’s Westfield Valley Fair mall, iChina spans two stories with its palace-like decor, including massive chandeliers, marble tables, and opulent glass walls.

Westfield Valley Fair has long served as a destination for the Bay Area to shop, dine, and play, with their billion dollar renovation and expansion raising the bar featuring a host of new restaurants, retailers, and entertainment options. With a focus on outstanding culinary experiences, the newest addition to the center’s expansion is iCHiNA restaurant - a dining destination unlike anything else available in Silicon Valley. Now open as part of the center’s extensive Asian Food Collection, iCHiNA offers a luxurious two-story dining experience for New American Chinese cuisine, inspired by fine-dining establishments all across Asia. As the bridge between the East and the West, iCHiNA maintains the integrity of the traditional flavors from China’s eight culinary regions while offering brilliant reinterpretations of iconic recipes.

It’s not the first restaurant in SV to utilize the iPhone naming convention (looking at you, iTalico), but aside from that questionable practice, the opulent iChina opened in August to great reception. Drenched in a dreamy turquoise color palette, a paneled glass chandelier anchors the main dining room, with translucent blue floor-to-ceiling room partitions and art deco-inspired gold wall panels surrounding the commanding long center dining table.