Chinese Laundry #4 Will Pop Up Next Month

Chef Chris Yang talks his latest menu, an intimate serving style and the virtues of the pop-up

By Sara Jones March 18, 2015

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Smoked mussel bubble tea. Sweet and sour tripe. Uni foo young. Black rice mochi cake. These are a few of the many dishes chef Chris Yang (a marketer and business developer for a tech start-up by day) is considering for his fourth installment of his Chinese Laundry pop-up coming in late April.

Wildly popular in its first three renditions (the first two in November; the most recent March 2), Chinese Laundry will continue to serve up “creative, playful food from an Asian-American perspective.” In this round, Yang, a longtime chef in NYC who moved to Seattle last year, is focusing on Chinese food from around the world—potentially Sino-Caribbean, Indian-Chinese, and Malay-Chinese (Nyonya) traditions—in a cozier setting (just 24 seats).

Tickets aren’t on sale yet, but they went so quickly last time that we wanted to get the scoop early and ask the chef what to await on menu and more. Yang anticipates sales will open in early April ($46/ticket for a five-course meal); keep your eyes on this site.

Diners await the next course at Yang’s third Chinese Laundry pop-up at Bellini Italian Bistro

1. What can we expect from your newest Chinese Laundry pop-up?

This time, I’m looking to do a smaller, more intimate dinner (the last one just pushed past 80) with more refined, individual plates. I haven’t settled on a venue yet, but I’m looking for someplace where I can serve guests by hand ideally at a bar, sushi chef-style. To take advantage of the smaller size and intimate setting, expect dishes that are best served and eaten immediately, like made-to-order oboro tofu. I’d also like to use more Washington-specific ingredients, particularly the abundance of quality shellfish that we have here.

 

2. How is this pop-up different from your first three?

My first two pop-ups were Chino-Latino, working with ingredients like saladitos/li hing mui/sour salted plums, which have Chinese origin but occupy a very Mexican place in cuisine (some of the dishes served: papas criollas, puerco peking, wok-charred ejotes [green beans]). For the third dinner, I played with some more homestyle flavors from the East Coast, where I’m from, and reimagined takeout food (scorched rice, General Tso’s sweetbreads, stir-fried cavatelli and more.) The element that has stayed the same is the idea of all cuisine as fusion.

The theme [for this fourth pop-up] will be similar to my previous events in that I’m looking to explore Chinese food from around the world. There’s still a lot to discover because the Chinese diaspora is truly global. Aside from an entirely new menu, the format (seating and service) will be more individualized than my previous events. 

 

3. What are you most excited about with your fourth installment of Chinese Laundry?

One of my favorite ways of eating is at the sushi bar where the itamae (sushi chef) prepares, presents and serves your food right in front of you. I’m excited to replicate this intimate experience to bring the people that produce the food and those that consume it closer together.

 

4. What is your favorite thing about doing pop-ups?

I love the rush of working with passionate people, building something from scratch and tearing it down the same night. With a pop-up you have freedom to experiment not only with creative dishes, but also with service style and even dining format. It’s space to play and discover for both the staff and guests. I also love that pop-ups attract people that really love food, when they come they want to experience everything and eat the whole menu. There’s so much energy and enthusiasm that it’s infectious.

 

Chefs complete plates of General Tso’s sweetbreads with braised broccoli neck, caramelized florets and charred leeks in Chinese Laundry #3

5. For guests, what do you think is special about attending pop-ups compared to going to a restaurant?

You’re putting yourself in the hands of the chef and in return you (hopefully) get the best elements of a high-end restaurant with the conviviality of a dinner party. 

To get a flavor for his evenings, see Yang’s first three Chinese Laundry menus here; click on Past Events at the bottom.

 

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