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[ahx1]

Learning By Doing

I have just returned from a month in New Zealand, working the vintage in Central Otago, helping to make organic Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris (classically and also skin contact) at Aurum Wines.

Why did I choose to work at Aurum? - My wife and I visited Aurum a few years back and brought home two bottles of the 2012 Mathilde. We opened a first bottle a few months later, and I can still taste it today. The purity of fruit was astonishing, with seamlessly integrated oak and sweet spice, and a gentle undercurrent of savoury notes - earth, coffee, and mushroom. I vividly remember Tony (the father) talking about use of whole bunches and stems in the wine, how they gave greater finesse to the tannins and complexity to the wine as a whole.

Forget the intellectualisation of my description above. This wine was one that made me feel something, it quieted and decluttered my mind, yet somehow simultaneously sent shockwaves through my whole body. Just putting my nose in the glass, the aromas brought an involuntary smile to my face. I could feel my pupils dilating, and the hair on my arms standing on end. I felt compelled to sit up straight, shocked by the awe and wonder that hit me as i drank this wine. It was a seminal moment, the first time a wine made me feel as much as taste.

As the vineyard is being established, one of my goals is to spend time learning the craft of winemaking from the people I admire most. I want to see how the best make wine in their own way. From working in kitchens I’ve learned that each action is a reflection of a restaurant’s culture, attitude and philosophy. From the big stylistic decisions to the details of organisation, cleaning and hygiene. I know this to be true for the best wineries as well. But more than any of that, I want to learn to make wine that made me feel as I did on that first sip.

I am eternally grateful to Lucie and Brook at Aurum for taking me on this past vintage, for their patience with my never ending stream of questions, for sharing their passion, knowledge and experience. As they are a husband and wife team with no other employees, I got to experience almost all aspects of work in the winery and vineyard. Much of my job revolved around cleaning, but they allowed me to do work in the lab, monitoring ferments, punchdowns, foot trampling, filling barrels, crushing, pressing, and even pick my own fruit and make a little wine! I got to witness and experience first hand what it takes to make wine with only quality in mind.

A few things I learned from my vintage experience:

The importance of quality fruit cannot be overstated. You can make bad wine from good fruit, but there is no way to make good wine from bad fruit.

The importance of attitude - always strive to grow the best fruit, to make the best wine, to never compromise.

One must have a very defined idea, and sense of confidence in what one wants to achieve in the winemaking process

Always try to learn and explore, design trials every vintage to gain better a understanding of how each process affects the end product.

Having the confidence to do less, rather than too much. Having the confidence to pick earlier, to not use enzymes, not fine, not filter, not inoculate for primary or secondary ferments, etc.

The importance of hygiene and cleanliness in the winery. Much like a kitchen, keeping the winery clean and organised, keeps your wine clean and your brain organised. Clean relentlessly - 99% of winemaking is cleaning.

To punchdown gently, just enough to wet the cap! Never hit the bottom to avoid breaking the seeds.

Compared to 2 years ago, I saw Central Otago’s best producers finding confidence, and settling into their own style (not trying to be burgundy), a style that reflects specifics of their climate, soil, and place. (40% more solar radiation than Europe, super dry, schist)

That oak can hide both bad and good qualities in a wine. I had the pleasure of tasting a cuvee of Pinot from two different years during this trip. The older vintage had 10% more new oak, around 25% total. I loved it, it had a seductive sweet spice, the oak was gentle and seamlessly integrated, I thought, framing the fruit in a very pretty way. I also loved the younger vintage - surprisingly it was more complex, showing greater depth from increased savoury and earthy notes. Lucie and Brook wanted to see less oak as the resulting wine was more transparent. That not only was their less oak flavour, but also that one could more clearly experience the wine for all its complexity and depth (what I perceived to be the savoury and earthy notes). Although the new oak was never overpowering, and gave a lovely dry sweetness to their Pinot, I think their decision to try less oak was the right one.

Quality and Premium is the way to go. Big producers with tons of cash have already built massive factory wineries to produce cheap wine throughout the world. Make the best possible wine you can, and eventually you will be rewarded.

Explore subregions to compare the impact of site vs winemaking (all things treated and done the same).

Focus - when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he slashed product lines and focused the company on a four product matrix - desktop/portable, consumer/pro. I originally wanted to plant Nebbiolo, Syrah and Chenin Blanc as well, to see what would work out in the region. Upon further reflection, I know that my passion lies in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and I want to dedicate my focus to learning these varietals, and making the best possible expression of Yunnan Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (and a tiny bit of riesling).

To spend time with the wine, to learn its character, its progression, always smelling, always tasting, committing it all to memory. To care for the product, and to give love to your work.

That perhaps the hardest part of making wine is selling it.

There is so much I could write about my harvest experience, but I will just focus on three major aspects of my time below.

Picking, the vintage condition

2017 was a strange year, with an unusually cold summer, followed by a short burst of sudden warmth before harvest. Aurum’s fruit quickly hit 23 brix, and they made the decisive decision to pick immediately. I believe we had a total of 2 bunches with powdery mildew, but that was it. However, due to the cold, bunches were much smaller, and crop levels were down roughly 25% (which is very expensive).

Picking was hard - exhausting but exhilarating. As there was little to no disease, we didn’t have to examine each bunch as they came off the vine. This left me trying to keep up with a seasoned group of Chilean horticultural students picking at a breakneck pace; at times it felt like we were picking as we jogged. We ended up, on average, picking a tonne per person/day. I got to taste a little as i went, comparing clones and varieties - the cool, pure sweetness of Pinot 667, the overpowering flavour of quince in Pinot Gris, and the electric acidity of Pinot Noir Abel. I got a sense of why the winemaker chose to pick, what they were looking for, in both flavour and stem ripeness.

The quality of fruit meant that there basically weren’t any adjustments to be made - the winemaker only added acid to Madeleine, as the potassium in the stems (100% whole bunch) absorbed some acid once berries had been crushed. Acid was added only to bring the level back to the original pH at picking, which in my mind is about restoring balance instead of tampering with it. None of the reds were sulphured (they will get a dose before bottling); everything done with care and a hands off approach - a winemaking decision in itself.

- 100% whole bunch Pinot Noir, cuvee “Madeleine”

Once the fruit had been crushed and put in tank (or in barrel for the chardonnay), my days began with punching down the Pinot, and then taking brix and temperature measurements for all the wine to monitor ferments as they progressed. It was amazing to smell and taste the wine as it worked its way through fermentation. The unfermented juice was intense and delicious - sweet, luscious and rich.

As fermentation began the wine came alive, at first refreshing, then more complex and brooding as the yeasts consumed more and more sugar. Fruity fragrances became augmented by floral, spice and coffee like scents as the ferments went on and grew warmer. As I tasted the same wine from previous vintages, I recognised smells and almost a recognisable personality that mirrored the fermenting wine still in tank.

- brix and temperature measurements

Once we reached 0 brix on the Pinot, we stopped punching down (Francois Millet’s suggestion - more below). Instead, we filled watering cans full of wine, gently misting the cap, keeping it moist, and minimising extraction.

The saying that 99% of winemaking is cleaning is certainly true. Hygiene and careful handling of wine can be the difference between a good and bad wine. Boy, did I do a lot of cleaning. No complaints though, I am one that finds repetition in cleaning quieting and meditative. There’s no question that winemaking is hard work, but there’s a point to all of it - it all adds up to a better end product. The best chefs and cooks pride themselves on their organisation and ability to work very clean. Those two things go hand in hand. Much like a kitchen, keeping the winery clean and organised, keeps your wine clean and your brain organised.

- shovelling out my first tank

I even had the pleasure of cooking for the family on three occasions - Miso Ramen, Short Rib Tacos and Steak.

2. Francois millet visit/ pressing off young vines

I had the amazing opportunity to spend two days with Francois Millet, winemaker/technical director at Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue in Burgundy for the last 30 years. He came by Aurum on a larger trip to Central Otago to visit and survey the new vintage, just as the two tanks of young vine pinot were finishing their ferments. Lucie, our winemaker, had taken all the young vine fruit and separated them into two exact batches, clonal percentages, weight, everything. The purpose of this was to try to create two identical ferments, then vary the length of post ferment maceration. Lucie wanted to examine how post ferment maceration affects mouthfeel, tannin, colour and structure, but also to better understand what she is looking for in maceration, as well as more precise sense of when to stop and press off the wine.

As we tasted through samples of all the different Pinot still in ferment, Francois shared his impressions of each wine, specifically on the two tanks of young vine Pinot. Through his own trials, Francois has come to the belief that post ferment maceration (specifically the resulting phenolic extraction, and tannin polymerisation) begins at 1000 Gravity, or 0 Brix, due in part to the amount of alcohol in the wine, and the alcohol solubility of the extractable material.

His recommendation - no more punchdowns after 0 brix is reached, as tannins (and bitterness from seeds) are too easily extracted at this point, and can become rough. Low risk of VA as there is still much gas production beneath the cap. To keep length short, as bad and green tannins can also polymerise during this period.

If pressed before total dryness (as to avoid green tannin polymerisation/ green phenolic extraction), extended decanting time is recommended to ensure wine is dry when transferred to barrel.

He recommends extended decanting time 3 days+ (especially if any strange flavours are present), to help drop out more solids (gross lees), putting a clearer wine into barrel, which will help if not filtering.

Francois came back on the day we pressed the tanks of young vine pinot - by hand in a traditional basket press.

- Pressing off the young vines old school

At one point, Francois looked admiringly at Aurum’s basket press and said to me, “Basket presses are the reference” - aka the OG press, certainly the most gentle. I learned that pressing slowly, with occasional pauses, in a basket press allows the juice to filter slowly through the skins, removing solids naturally, and avoiding seed damage (and bitterness).

My favourite moment was as we tasted wine from the press, Francois gave an analogy to describe the importance of press wine vis a vis structure. Free run is mother, and the press wine is father - a child needs both. Keep tasting press wine as it comes out in cycles. Sometimes, the father is no good. In those moments, chuck him.

What sticks with me from Francois’ visit is as much the depth of his knowledge as was his sense of calm and familiarity with Pinot Noir. It was as though he and Pinot Noir were old friends, meeting in Central Otago to explore a new place.

- “Fruit Cake”

3. Getting to pick my own fruit

Brook and Lucie were very kind to allow me to go through the vineyard and pick any ripe fruit that was missed.

On April 19th I picked roughly 12 kilos of fruit, 85% Pinot Noir, 14% Pinot Gris, 1% Pinot Blanc, a Pinot family Passetoutgrain if you will. Both the Pinot Noir and Blanc were left in whole bunches as I thought the stems tasted pleasant and ripe, and the Gris I hand destemmed to leave whole berries intact. I left the grapes uncrushed for 5 days to encourage a small amount of intracellular fermentation, with a blanket of liquid Co2 to keep the grapes cool. I’ll be leaving it with them to monitor the primary and malolactic fermentations through the year, and I’ll check in on its readiness when I return this december. I will certainly never forget the moment as I unscrewed the lid,aw the magenta foam gently fizzing away, and knew my first wild fermentation had started off on its own.

24/4 Crushed and warmed overnight - 22 brix 3.5 pH

26/4 Juice warmed again - 21.74 brix 14 degrees C, “pigeage” with hands, gently just to wet the cap

27/4 Wild fermentation begins, visibly foamy and fizzing

28/4 19.69 brix, 16.5 degrees C, moved to a warmed storage room to bring temperatures up.

Conclusion

I’ve come away really inspired to develop an expression of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling that is unique and true to Yunnan.

I believe that food is the truest expression of the soul of a place. Not every place grows wine, but every place has its own food. Food is an interaction between the people of the place, and the things that grow. Cuisine local to each region evolves over centuries, it evolves around necessity, what is local, and around the different people who leave their imprint upon the region. Food is shaped by people and it shapes them in turn - their experiences, their memories, their bodies. As a chef, I look to food for inspiration on how best to reflect our region.

The food of Yunnan is playful, it’s fragrant, it can be bright, it can be earthy, it can be both and ever changing. The flavours and produce I most associate with Yunnan are Melon Shoots, Lime, Mint, Potatoes, Ceps, Porcinis, Pine, Sichuan Peppercorn, Chili, Garlic and Fermented Tofu. These are intensely flavourful and textural products, but Yunnan doesn’t make heavy food. Even the humble potato, we make light and playful - shredded, spiced, or mashed. The food of Yunnan is always balanced, enlivened with spice, vinegar, lime, and herbs; intense but spritely at the same time. The wine of this region should reflect that character. It must be a wine with intensity, but at the same time bright, lively, and electric. There is so much love and joy in the food of Yunnan, so much respect for the earth and what it provides. I take inspiration from all of it.

I’ve always enjoyed Central Otago Pinot, but now I love it. I don’t drink it as a less expensive alternative to Burgundy, but for its own qualities and personality. On my last night in Queenstown, my family and I shared a bottle of 1998 Domaine Jamet, our only non local wine of the trip. What stuck out in the Jamet was an intense and lively acid spine and savoury umami depth. The wine felt alive, with a pulsating energy, things that I find in so much of the food in Yunnan. The wine was beautiful in itself, but by contrasting it to the Central Pinot I had enjoyed, the Jamet reminded me of home. It helped me realise that I don’t want to make wine that mimic the wine of any other place, but be true to our little corner of the world.

What’s next? As I write this, I’m arranging and negotiating the purchase of trellising equipment - steel posts, wires, strainers, pliers, this list goes on….. 

I’ve placed our order and deposits for deliveries of vines from three different Chinese nurseries.

We’re headed down to Yunnan at the end of this month to plant! With luck, our experimental block will be planted, with a fully installed trellising system by the end of June. More on that next time.

[ahx1]

A New Beginning

As many of you know, I closed Baoism last month. A difficult decision, but one with no regrets. I’d like to think we went out on top, I learned an immense amount, but most importantly, we made many people happy with our food. Baoism was my first experience managing, and my first time starting a business. I built a team that took on running a restaurant together, and of course all the crazy challenges associated. I learned where my strengths are, where I need to improve, and also where I need help. I learned how to conceive and design a product from scratch, and I learned to love the iterative process of development. Baoism lives on in the memories of our fans, but in also in all the things it’s given me. Certainly, I am a better person for my three years of Baoism.

This new project started, like for many others, with a deep love for wine. August, 2015 I was in the midst of opening my restaurant (clearly, I'm prone to crazy ventures), after two years of pop ups around Shanghai and searching for a location. As a last bit of rest before going down the rabbit hole, I went down to Yunnan province, where my family maintains a small holiday home at the foot of the Yulong Snow Mountain, about 20 mins from Lijiang.

Kind of looks like Central Otago doesn’t it?

Like many winemaking regions it's a stunning place, with an indescribable energy. I'm not one for new agey stuff, but coming back to this place always left me feeling alive and rejuvenated. Maybe it's the alkaline drinking water from a glacier atop the mountain, or just the incredible food, but for all these reasons and many more, Yunnan is my happy place.

On this particular trip, I noticed local workers digging out fist size granite looking stones from the ground surrounding our village to pave roads and build walls. I reasoned that these must be quite free draining soils. I asked a friend from the village if ever during the rainy season (July-August, before veraison thankfully, but more on that later) there might be any puddling on the ground, his answer, "never".  With my limited knowledge of winemaking/viticulture, I reasoned that these soils, combined with cool temperatures, and intense sun from our elevation (2800m) might allow for some decent wine to be made. My interest was piqued.

I started asking around in Shanghai for expert advice and was quickly introduced to David Tyney and NZ based Australian, who won both the red and white portions of the Ningxia Wine Challenge a few years back. David expressed interest in this project immediately, having made wine for another winery in the same province that had planted 33 ha of Vidal before his arrival (only in China - but that's another story).

After my restaurant had found it's feet, David and I flew down to Yunnan to dig up some soils samples from unused land on slopes around the village, and to put in a weather station to collect data throughout the growing season. Oh, we also drank a lot of wine. I call this "benchmarking". All in the name of education right?

After a year and half of working furiously in the kitchen, building a business, and also finishing my wset 3s, I turned my attention back to the vineyard project as we had gathered enough data from our own weather station, and the local 5 year averages to paint a general picture of feasibility. In an otherwise a very dry area, our biggest challenge is looking to be a large rain spike in July, which comes down significantly in august, falling to ~25mm in October during harvest (this year and also 5 year village average). As a reference, the 5 year average of rainfall in beaune in October September is above 50mm, and Bordeaux is between 80-100mm. Our average growing season temperatures are very closely aligned with Beaune, with a good and wide diurnal range. Sunshine hours are a little down relative to other regions in July/August due to cloud cover, but they grow to match 5 year Beaune averages in September, and even to surpasse 5 year averages in Beaune, Bordeaux, and Marlborough in October. With the intensity of our high elevation sunshine, we feel that this won't be a problem (I get a nice tan with just 20 minutes of Yunnan sun, even when it's cloudy, maybe a light toast in wine speak?).

Soils look good - our soil analysis confirmed the presence of stones, primarily chert from being on a layer of glacial deposit, as well as loam and clay. One potential site had low PH, but otherwise all had the right levels of organic matter, CEC, phosphorous, nitrogen, zinc, copper, manganese etc that, on paper, equate to free draining, infertile soils, which will help to control vine vigor in the rainy season. Most importantly, the rains are most concentrated before veraison, which means that (fingers crossed) our fruit won't be affected by plumping or dilution.

David, Simon Clark (a viticulturalist friend of David's in Marlborough) and I flew to Yunnan again this month to take a final look at soil composition, and to finalize site selection. We spent some time walking through the potential sites and digging in.

As you can see from the photo that there's only a thin layer of topsoil, below that is a layer of loam mixed with rock, then a clay bedpan laden with small stones below. Simon's reaction upon seeing this was, "this is amazing, you can't ask for better soils, especially with the rainfall here." Sweet music to my ears!

With the rainfall, disease will be our biggest challenge. Seeing the sites, Simon and David believe that we can combat this with an organic spray program, good canopy management, and arranging the rows of vines in an SE orientation, allowing beneficial airflow through the vines from the northerly wind that comes through the region. I'm sure we'll learn much much more about the challenges and solutions as we progress. Of course, we drank plenty, this time our benchmarks were a 2010 Chambolle village from Taupenot Merme, a 2012 1er Beaune du Chateau from Bouchard pere et fils, a 2013 1er Chassagne Montrachet by PYCM, a 2009 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese, and a 2007 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot. Delicious!

So what's next? I've decided to start with first experimental plot of 3.5-5 hectares broken into smaller blocks (depending on how negotiations go in securing land). I want to compare terraced plots on gentler slopes, to a steeper plot behind the house. Importing vines is looking to be quite bureaucratic, with distinct challenges specific to a country that does not have a developed wine industry nor established channels to import vines. We've found a Kiwi who's lived and worked in Yunnan for the last 10 years on government related orchard and table grape projects, and has experience importing agricultural products of this nature. As you can expect, legal regulations aren't always well defined in China, and enforcement can be variable. Experts with relationships, who know how to most efficiently navigate the system become crucial. But as nurseries aren't well stocked this time of year, it looks as though our first planting this year (fingers crossed) will be a patchwork of imported grafted vines, cuttings from other vineyards in China, maybe some from Chinese nurseries, and maybe cuttings from other places (you get the idea).

My first love is my wife, (we got married this fall), followed by Red burgundy (surprise, surprise! Dujac is my favorite) and PN in general, followed by Syrah of the Northern Rhone. I love White Burgundy in the style of PYCM and in the last two years I've also fallen for German Riesling, Barolo, and Chenin from Savennieres. I want to focus on Pinot, Chardonnay and Syrah, but as an untested region, I want to plant a few rows of Riesling, Chenin and Nebbiolo just to see how they turn out. We're keeping things small and equipment/capital expenditure limited as this first plot is primarily a viability study. Everything looks promising on paper, but my dream is to make a Chinese wine that one day might change people's minds about my country - a wine that is delicious, elegant, balanced and unique all at once. Long term, I want to learn to make wine with its own sense of confidence, that can reflect the amazing place that Yunnan is. As an untested region, I need to carefully study what varietals will survive, which are viable, and which will thrive.

As a trained chef, I also know that I need to further study the craft of winemaking. I've closed my restaurant to focus on this full time. I plan on working harvests in France and Aus/NZ each year as the plots are established, as well as starting my WSET diploma this fall. 

Currently I’m busy sourcing vines from Chinese nurseries (a challenge in itself), and I’m headed to Aurum Winery in Central Otago, NZ in April to work this year’s harvest, pick some grapes and hopefully make some good Pinot.

[ahx1]

Celebrating the last of summer produce at home #shanghaisummer

[ahx1]

Happy birthday to my favorite sister!!! At age 2 already cooler than me doing her best Elton John impression. HBD Maria!!! Can't wait to have you home soon and stuff you with lots of food

[ahx1]

Song Feng Tsui and Other Musings 松风翠和其他沉思

在上一次短篇后包主义团队一直很忙，我们在“食品研究”（就是为了吃好吃的）的名义下去了马来西亚和日本 ，看了很多新地点，拜访了业界内的导师，见了潜在供应商/合作伙伴，并聘请了一名实习生。找地点毫无疑问的是我们团队至今遇到的最困难一件事。我们手上有四五个代理在帮我们找地点，但是看到的地点实在还是很少。在上海除非拥有整栋大楼，个人没有能力有效申请餐饮所需的执照，所以我们只能租已有执照，能做重油烟的门店。我们想开店的区域对有餐饮执照的地点需求本身已经很高，再加我们在这段时间只有一名靠谱的代理人，到目前为止，我们的选择很有限。但是最近终于取得了突破，通��朋友的推荐找到一名靠谱的代理。虽然和他们沟通有点累，但是他们手上好似有很多地点，人脉很深。上次和他们一起看地点，各个地方都正在我们想找的地理位置，面积适合，又接近我们的价格。我们在业界的朋友们一致反映，要找到合适的代理商，门点和价格是他们开店过程中最困难的，时间花得最长的部分。现在地点这件事终于看起来有希望，期望能够尽快找到合适的门店。

最近我们和一个潜在供应商见了面，有了小突破。这家供应商是上海地区和全国内最大的有机农场之一，产品质量非常棒，产能很大，产量也很稳定。我们团队想试图和这家农场设立一个联合品牌(co-branding)合作关系。通过在包主义店面中推销他们的产品，展示他们公司的商标，在我们客户群中宣传他们企业的故事和理念。    这种合作关系不仅对双方都有经济上的利益，但是也是我们团队的核心理念之一。从长远角度来看，好的供应商肯定会是包主义成功的一大要点。我们希望找到对食材理念和我们志同道合的供应商，在我们客户群中分享和推广他们的故事。这样合作关系能使得我们两公司同步发展，同步生长。确保了我们产品的质量，也提升了中国民众的生活质量。

我们昨天拜访了江西婺源生产手工制造山茶油松风翠公司的总裁程先生。山茶油由于抗氧化能力强，油脂烟点高，营养价值丰富，被懂烹饪，懂养生的朋友如获至宝。除了营养价值以外，用山茶油会给菜添加一种微妙的烟熏香味和坚果味。我和Jenny昨天拜访了宋峰翠杰出的创始人，程总。程总背景最早是做烫衣板的企业。有了事业上的成功之后程总想创造能给消费者生活中带来美丽的高品质产品，有利于人生中最根本的事情：健康。我们和程总分享包主义的核心愿景：希望建为新中国创建一个新品牌，食材来源透明化，食物价格公道化，注重设计和整体体验的现代中式快餐。我们也提到了我们和供应商合作的理想，重点在两公司同步发展。我和Jenny都很惊讶能在中国看到象松风翠这样高质量国产产品，但更可喜的是见到程总这样和我们在相同的脑波上，真��相信包主义理念的人。程总立即提出要为包主义提供山茶油，而且还能提供婺源用传统养殖有机非转基因大豆手工制作的豆腐，和矿泉水。在会议之后程总在顶露台上为我们举办了一个丰盛的午餐，每道菜全部用公司自己的山茶花油。程总夫人做的油焖茄子和红薯菜两道菜另人影响特别深刻，山茶油的幽香突出了茄子本身的甜味和红薯菜清脆的草香味。我们非常自豪能有一个象程总的成功商人相信和赞同我们的愿景，但是我们更自豪的是能和松风催这样的企业一起合作，我们非常赞同松风翠的理念，也非常期待能和我们的客户群分享他们的故事。

Jenny的博客中也写了有关松风翠的短篇，概括了山茶油的生产过程，也有一个关于松风翠的视频。http://jingtheory.com/wuyuan-artisanal-food/#read

Alex

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Song Feng Tsui and other musings 松风翠和其他沉思

It's been a while since I've posted, so this is going to be a little bit of a catch up post. Baoism has been all over the place (literally) since we last spoke, we've traveled to Malaysia and Japan in the name of "food research" (e.g to eat great food), seen many locations, met with some of our friends in the industry for mentorship and advice, had meetings with a few new potential suppliers/partners, and hired an intern. Location hunting has been without a doubt the hardest part for us as a team. We have four or five agents we've worked with to find locations, but we simply haven't seen many promising places to date. Because Shanghai is a place where one cannot effectively apply for the requisite f&b licenses without owning the entire building, we only can rent a space that already has approval for f&b operations, and more importantly the approval to use gas stoves with high heat output. These requirements narrow the list of potential spaces drastically, and coupled with having only one reliable agent so far, our choices have been limited. However, we've finally had a breakthrough recently, finding a reliable agent through a friend's recommendation. They're not the most reliable in terms of responding to us, but they've showed us great places that fit what we're looking for in terms of geography and close to our price point. Our friends in the industry unanimously reflected that finding the right agent, location, and price was the hardest and lengthiest part of their process; so there's comfort in knowing we're not alone. Though things are looking promising, and we hope we can nail down a location soon. 

We've had an exciting few meetings with potential suppliers, pitching a large organic farm on the outskirts of Shanghai on a co-branding partnership, where we come to an agreement on reduced prices in exchange for their product and branding placement in our stores. It was an exciting first exchange and we hope to continue talks with this farm soon. This is not only a good deal for us financially, but is a relationship we want to foster in the long run. Our suppliers will be a big part of Baoism's success in the future - we want to find like minded people, share and promote their stories, so we can all grow together. Which leads me to the title of this post, Song Feng Tsui. 

Our friends at Song Feng Tsui are artisanal producers of camellia oil in rural Wuyuan, Jiangxi. Camellia oil is highly prized for it's resistance to oxidation, extremely high smoke point, and general health benefits. It doesn't hurt that the food made with this stuff is delicious; when used correctly, camellia oil imparts a delicate smoky nutty fragrance to the dish, pairing well with most anything. Jenny and I met the fascinating founder of Song Feng Tsui yesterday, Mr. Cheng, a man who made his fortune making ironing boards, he wanted to create beautiful and high quality items that would benefit people in the most fundamental way: health. We shared our vision for Baoism: our desire to create a brand for the new China, our commitment to transparent sourcing, quality ingredients and a great store experience from food to design, and to partner with suppliers who we believe in and want to grow together with. It's amazing seeing Song Feng Tsui's incredible artisanal products, made in china, but even more gratifying to meet a man who was on our wavelength, and really believed in our idea. The founder immediately offered to provide us with oil, handmade tofu from wuyuan's incredible source of traditionally farmed organic non-GMO soybeans, bottled water from wuyuan's springs and other incredible products. We finished our discussion with a beautiful lunch on Mr. Cheng's rooftop terrace, an incredible meal all made with Song Feng Tsui's Camellia oil, the flavor was particularly wonderful in a stir fried eggplant dish and a sweet potato green dish, the delicate fragrance of the oil highlighting the sweetness of the eggplant and the crisp grassy flavor of the sweet potato greens. We are really proud that a successful businessman like Mr. Cheng believes in our vision, but even more proud to work with a quality producer who we believe in and whose story we are excited to share.

Jenny wrote a piece on Song Feng Tsui, where she writes more on how camellia oil is produced and also includes a nifty video on Song Feng Tsui, check it out here: 

http://jingtheory.com/wuyuan-artisanal-food/#read

Alex

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A few of my favorites from dinner at Michelin 3* Sushi Yoshitake: meltingly tender anago, rich and oily kohada and a beautifully balanced O-toro. A privilege to watch a true master practicing his craft, and even luckier to have him answer my many questions. Incredible food made infinitely better by the hospitality and warmth. (at 鮨よしたけ)

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Highlights of an incredible 12 course meal at 3* Kikunoi in Kyoto. Grateful for the inspiring food, beautiful setting and family to share it with (at 菊乃井 本店 (Kikunoi Honten))

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Highlight of my morning at Kodaiji: Iced Matcha + Matcha soft serve. Hory Shit (at 高台寺 (Kodaiji Temple))

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Excitement turns to pain. Before and after three slices of cake #fatkid #waytooambitious #yum #immobile #penang #gotafourthslicefortakeaway #noshame

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Class with the amazing Nazlina in Penang: Sambal, chicken curry, Penang spring rolls, prawn anglebean salad. #stuffed #penang #malaycooking (at Nazlina Spice Station)

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Roti paratha for breakfast at Muntri mews in Penang, I could get used to this @cadence_11

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Why Baoism? 包主义的来源

I recently read a management snippet that advised going beyond putting oneself in the customer’s shoes, that to truly understand their needs and wants, one has to immerse him/herself in their lives. This struck a note with me as Baoism, specifically the need for fast, delicious and innovative Chinese food that is transparently sourced and accessibly priced, was conceived when I worked amongst my potential customers.

In my previous office job, I tried to make my lunch as much as I could. This was because on the days that I didn’t, my choices were pretty limited and unappetising. My choices essentially were the cafeteria in the building for between 25-28 RMB, the domestic chinese fast food chains for around 30 RMB, a quaint japanese restaurant for around 60 RMB, or a sit down chinese place for 80 RMB+ per person. Each of these places have their own problems: the first two choices were pretty dingy and so I basically went just to fill up on food, the latter choice was usually too slow for my work schedule. This, the middle market restaurant offerings in China, is what my colleagues and I faced everyday.

As a whole, the chinese food/bev market is pretty saturated, there are a ton of noodle stalls that sell great knife cut noodles for 12 RMB, or high end places for 100-150 per person that one can get good food with good ingredients. The variety and quality of the segment in between is incredibly limited and poor. If you’ve ever eaten at a Chinese Mcdonald’s or KFC knockoff, you know that the food is mediocre and the design is garish, but also that there is a huge information gap between the customer and the supplier. I have no idea about what I’m eating, how it’s grown, or where it’s come from. Considering the amount of food scandals that have surfaced in China these past few years, be it floating pigs, rat meat, excessive additives and pesticides, people want and deserve information about what their eating. It’s a question of peace of mind. All I hope to do is offer delicious food, a space and experience that is modern and relevant to this new Chinese generation, and to close the information gap between the customer and supplier.

The truth is, I am building this company as an owner as well as a customer. I want to create an experience - from the food to design and service- that makes me want to come back everyday. Of course we don’t expect any customer to come 7 days a week, but this is the bar we set for ourselves in order to create a final experience that we can be proud of. 

Alex

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Why Baoism? 包主义的来源

我最近一直在看有关企业管理的书，其中有一本忠告：如果想真正了解客户的需求，必须要把自己沉浸在客户的生活中。这一点引起了我的注意，因为包主义的核心理念：食材来源透明化，食物价格公道化的现代中式快餐，最初启发来自我和包主义潜在客户群一起工作的一段时间。

在我之前的白领工作中，一半以上的时间会自己带中饭吃。这是因为在周边的选择非常有限而大部分都非常难吃。我和同事们每天面临的选择基本只有：大楼食堂（25-28元），中式快餐，以及一些本帮和川菜馆（70元以上）。这些地方各有各缺点。大楼食堂和中式快餐东西又难吃地方感觉糟糕，基本上只是为了填饱肚子而去。本帮和川菜馆东西还过得去，但是应为忙大多数没有时间坐下吃一顿正餐。唯一好吃又快的的其实只有附近一家小小的日餐厅，中饭有一些商务套餐，平均消费大概在60以上。

整体来说，中国的餐饮市场已经相当饱和。路上有很多面馆12元能吃一碗不错的刀削面，也有很多高档餐馆，每人花个100-150块能吃到食材优质的正餐。问题是这两头之间的市场板块选择少而质量相当差���在中式快餐（中国版的KFC和麦当劳）吃过的朋友都知道东西又难吃而且整体设计和感觉完全不符合现代中国消费者的品味和需求。此外，在这一类餐厅客户和供应商之间有巨大的信息鸿沟。在这一类餐馆，客户连了解对食材来源和生养的机会都没有。想到前几年如黄浦江浮猪，添加剂超标，假肉等不同食品安全事件，其实食材来源和生养的信息早已因该透明化。这不是人权不人权的问题，这是人人吃东西安心的问题。我只是通过包主义想提供食物味道鲜美，空间设计现代化，缩小客户供应商之间信息鸿沟的餐饮概念。

实在说，我是从一个客户和企业家的两个视角来建造这家公司。我想创造一种能过吸引自己一周七天想来吃的产品和体验。我当然不指望客户一周七天都来，但是从设计的角度，这就是我的目标。只有这样的指标我们才能创造出自己真正满意的客户体验。

Alex

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Real Estate 房地产

在创业早起我已经有过几次感到能把握最终目标的瞬间，甚至能想象包主义为来的外形和细节。最近有两次感受特别尖锐 - 第一是这周日我们团队举办的第三轮新产品测试，第二是在参观潜在店面中感受到的。

我们的厨师顾问Anthony这周日带了提前准备好的两种产品到我家做了再一轮的新产品测试。这次测试主要是腐乳汁顿五花肉和现代化红烧肉的PK（照片）。虽然这仍然是早期版本，这次做出来的产品外观和口味比以往任何时候更接近餐厅中可行的产品。Anthony也提前准备了我们之前一起设计的各种配料，其中Anthony自己腌渍的红洋葱特别爽口 –带有微妙的茴香味 ，酸度完美金额。因为产品是包主义成功的最核心因素，我们团队在产品研发上作出了很大的投入。而在本次测试后，我明显感到团队更接近做出可行，令人难忘的产品。

我和Jenny（我的合伙人）今天参观了��许是我们最有希望的地点。以下的图片是SOHO复兴广场商场/写字楼的展厅，超现代，光赤的白色走廊形成了印象深刻的形象。北京SOHO集团是中国最有影响力的的商业地产开发商之一，和这样的大公司谈判对我们两个初步创业者是一个令人艰巨的和振奋的事情。但当我们把包主义想像在SOHO复兴广场，一个几乎保证能得到巨大媒体关注的空间是，是我完全忘记我之前的恐惧。

我们在本次会议之前通过我们的代理有和SOHO的租赁经理有过简单的沟通，而因为我们是一个未验证的品牌，他们推荐的B1地点没有出乎意料。但由于这是包主义的第一个地点，我们想把门店放在地面一层，最理想是在主要的交叉口可见的位置。当谈判开始，我和Jenny就试图说服租赁经理把包主义放在地面一层， 主要专注于我们的整体设计和客户体验。再这次谈判中我发现，虽然大部分人都能在概念上把握包主义的产品和体验，因为没有类似的企业，大部分人很难找到描述包主义市场中的对比。在看完我们的介绍，SOHO复兴广场租赁经把我们形容成在“西式环境和包装'中做’中餐‘ 。这正是我想要打破和改变的思维，我想通过包主义体现中餐可以是一个美丽，现代，和精简的体验，并显示中国设计和中国人的创造力可以达到世界一流的水平。

Alex

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Real Estate 房地产

There have been moments in this process of starting a business where the realisation of our work feels tangible, so much that I can envision what Baoism might look like. Two of these moments have been particularly poignant - this past sunday when we had our third session of menu tasting, and today, when we visited a potential storefront location at Soho Fuxing Plaza near Xintiandi.

Anthony, our chef consultant came over sunday armed with pre-prepared items for our menu tasting. It was a showdown between a fu-ru (fermented tofu) braised pork belly and a twist on the classic hong shao rou. You can see this here. Although this was still an early version, it looked and tasted closer to a viable final product than ever before. Anthony also pre made toppings that we had conceived in our previous brainstorm session, the pickled red onion was particularly refreshing - the perfect amount of acidity with a hint of anise flavor from fennel seed in the brine. The product is so central to Baoism’s identity and success, and after this session I definitely felt much closer to producing something viable and memorable.

Today, we visited perhaps our most promising but also intimidating potential location. The image above is of the mall/office complex’s showroom; the stark white hallway and angular futuristic lighting cut an impressive image. As Soho Beijing is one of China’s most successful commercial real estate developers, the thought of negotiating with them was daunting and exhilarating all at once. It certainly was an exciting prospect for both Jenny (my co-founder) and I to imagine Baoism in a space almost guaranteed to get tons of press and traction.

We’d had a brief back and forth with the leasing manager through our agent prior to this meeting, and as is expected for a new and unproven business, they had recommended a B1 location. As this is our first location, we really want to put Baoism on the ground level, and visible from a major intersection. So as we began our discussion with the leasing agent, both Jenny and I pitched the idea of having Baoism on the ground level, focusing on our design and customer experience, particularly how our concept was more relevant to the G/F store mix. I’ve found that while people can conceptually grasp what we do, they struggle to find categories that neatly describe where we sit in the market. The leasing manager understood us as doing ‘chinese food’ in a ‘western environment’. This is exactly the kind of thinking we want to disrupt and change, I want Baoism to show that eating at a Chinese fast casual restaurant can be a beautiful, modern, and streamlined experience, and that Chinese design and Chinese thinking can be of an international standard.

Alex

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这是我在中国创业的故事。希望通过这博客记录创业中遇到的苦恼、障碍、各种酸甜苦辣；能给好友、客户、和好奇者了解现代中国创业的小窗口。本人普通话不是最流利，请大家原谅！

I envision this project as part record and part living memory. My hope is to record my experience starting and growing a business in China - the hardships, the roadblocks and the successes I face on my journey - as well as to provide a portal for my friends, customers and the curious into what it is to be an entrepreneur in China today

Alex