When he’s not developing the Junzi Kitchen menu our chef Lucas Sin runs a ten-course pop-up restaurant with Kay Teo.
Improvisation rules the night of a seating: Lucas and Kay buy the best ingredients available that day and then figure out ten courses that will surprise and delight their guests. “We’re trying to start conversations and stories among our guests with our food,” says Lucas, “when you’re served ten courses, you’re going to talk about at least ten things.”
This was the case last Friday when the Junzi team got to experience Lucas and Kay’s culinary improvisations in full glory.
Drawing from his apprenticeships at Modernist Cuisine and Kikunoi (recipient of three Michelin stars), it was obvious that Lucas felt equally comfortable in a fine dining setting as the humbler surroundings of a chun-bing counter.
Cantonese duck breast, claypot rice with pork belly, a vegetable spread with pickled kale and roasted lotus root, smoked ham hock with green curry and yuzu compote, nectarine buckwheat cakes and more — each course was packed with technique, creativity, and love.
“It’s autobiographical cooking. For instance the clay pot rice [with braised pork belly, Chinese sausage, duck liver and flash-fried shrimp!] was my favorite dish as a kid. I’ve watched my father make variations of it many times.”
We’re honored to work with such a skilled chef as Lucas — and our bellies agree.
More stories from Junzi Kitchen:
Junzi Takes LA
Greatest Sustainable City In America
Liftoff
A Chun-Bing For Your Thoughts
Building On The Past
A Glimpse Into Junzi Kitchen