A chef's life

It’s Perigord Truffle Season !

damoba — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 07:32:01 +0000

And I am very happy that we were able to get some of the “Black Gold” in very good quality! The Truffles have reached their best stadium, so we will start a Perigord Truffle Promotion at the Lobster Bar and Grill, Shangri-La Hotel Ningbo. We will offer these exclusive mushrooms from November 21st to January 15th.

To give you an impresion of what is coming, have a look at the Whole baked Perigord Truffle in Foie Gras and Potato Crust below.

Mini- Anniversairy: One Year at Lobster Bar and Grill, Shangri-La Hotel, Ningbo, CN

damoba — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 04:26:49 +0000

Well, on 13th of September 2010 i startet working for SLNB in charge for Lobster Bar and Grill. After one year, I can say that we improved food quality, presentation and most important – consistency!

At the beginning of this month, we launched our new menu, with roughly 70% new dishes – the remaining 30% got a makeover. Enjoy the pictures below – i am looking forward to get some comments and feedback!

A few new Food Pictures from Lobster Bar and Grill, Shangri-La Ningbo

damoba — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:24:25 +0000

Here are some new Pictures for you, have a look and enjoy!

Looking forward to your comments!

Ningbo’s first White Asparagus arrived at Lobster Bar and Grill, Shangri-La

damoba — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:10:14 +0000

The first White Asparagus (Asperge des Landes) has arrived at Lobster Bar and Grill, the European Fine Dining Restaurant at Shangri-La Ningbo.

As mentioned earlier, we will hold a promotion on this great vegetable from May 20th until June 15th.

If you are interested, feel free to contact me for a reservation. Enjoy the pictures of our first batch of the White Gold!

Easter Set Menu at Lobster Bar and Grill, Shangri-La Ningbo

damoba — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:27:04 +0000

From April 22nd to 25th, we offered an exclusive Easter Set Dinner at Lobster Bar and Grill. For only 618 RMB, we offered 5 courses including the matching wines.
The feedback of our guests was pretty good again - Have a look at the pictures below, and make you own opinion!

White Asparagus Promotion at Lobster Bar and Grill

damoba — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:38:03 +0000

We have another great Product Promotion coming, this time we will feature the “White Gold” – White Asparagus from the Landes Area near Bordeaux, France.

Supported by our supplier, Mandarin Finefoods, we will be able to offer this great vegetable at a reasonable price. On 20th of May, we will start the promotion with a launching Dinner – 4 courses for 688 RMB. Afterwards, we will offer a White Asparagus a la carte menu until June 15th.

Pictures will follow closer to the date.

Catering at Qing An Guild Hall

damoba — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:37:38 +0000

For our regular Shangri-La Ningbo GM’s Dinner, we invited to the famous Qing An Guild Hall of Ningbo. A unique location with long history. For the first time ever at this location, we dished out a pass around cocktail and a 4 courses set menu for 50 person.

Right in the beginning we had to handle the biggest challenge of the day, moving massively heavy equipment from the hotel to the location – unfortunately the rented truck did not have a lifting ramp… So we had to lift all the equipment from the truck by hand, which caused some painful backs for the next day.

Finally, we were able to start cooking:

Dungeness Crab Cake with Mango, Tasmanian Seabass Tatar with Caviar Cream and a Suckling Pig Sushi with Avocado and Papaya made the Cocktail. The Appetizer was a Citrus cured Salmon with Herb Crust, Mustard Pear Compote and Aged Balsamico. We went on with a Sea Cucumber and Yellow Croacker Soup, dressed with some Ginger- Coriander Oil.

As Main Course we served a 12 hour braised Tajima Wagyu Beef Cheek with Truffle mashed Potatoes, Spring Vegetables and Abalone Sauce. By the way, the Tajima Wagyu Beef is available on the menu of Lobster Bar and Grill.

We finished with a Hazelnut- Nougat Dome, sliced Fruits and some Pralines.

Since it was only 20:30h when we were done, i was still able to get back to my “home base” and take care of my guests at Lobster Bar and Grill.

Womens Day Cooking Class at Lobster Bar and Grill

damoba — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:36:49 +0000

For the 2011 Womens Day, we invited a few of our female guests to join a cooking class. Featuring 3 dishes – Lobster Tatar with Orange and Basil, Hot smoked Salmon with Peach Compote, Milk Chocolate Souffle with caramelized Apple – it was a 2 hours presentation, followed by a lunch. Of course, the same dishes were served.

Enjoy the pictures!

Tajima Wagyu Beef Promotion at Lobster Bar and Grill

damoba — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:36:19 +0000

After 2 months of searching, i finally found a source to get the stunning Tajima Wagyu Beef to Shangri-La Ningbo.

Since this product was totally new to the market, we decided to get a 2 week promotion on the way to introduce this great beef to our guests. With the support of our partner, White Stripe Meats, we created a nice additional menu to feature the best cuts of Tajima Wagyu.

We started with an opening dinner, which was fully booked out. The promotion was extremely successful, and we received great feedback on the product and preparations. Since this promotion, we have Tajima Wagyu Beef available on our regular menu in Lobster Bar and Grill.

First steps at Shangri-La Ningbo, China

damoba — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:55:23 +0000

After a break of almost 2 months, i finally arrived to Ningbo and immediately started working at the Shangri-La Hotel. I am now on charge for the Lobster Bar and Grill, a European Fine Dining Restaurant with a focus on Lobsters, Seafood and Premium Meat cuts.

Having worked here now for a view weeks, i have to say that i expected more difficulties – the only real problem is the massive language barrier.

The Restaurant has great potential in the market, i have an excellent team on my side and i have the freedom to be creative in the menu without limitations.

You will find some pictures of new menu items below, there are some city pictures aswell – enjoy!

Living in Ningbo is ok and even better than we expected, again the only issue is the language – there is no way to get home by taxi without having the address written in chinese letters!!

The city itself is big, 5.5 million people live here, but as soon you leave the city center behind it feels like beeing in a village. It is pretty quiet, traffic is not too bad and the air is good since no motorbikes are allowed in the city.

Actually i think it was the right decision to take the move, even though i had a good time with Banyan Tree!