Songtsam, an award-winning luxury boutique hotel collection and DMC located in the Tibet and Yunnan Provinces of China, announced the appointment of the renowned Celebrity Chef Qisheng Su, as Food and Beverage Consultant, bringing new inspiration to the culinary offerings of the Group’s properties.
Chef Su has already curated a new menu for the recently opened Padma Pu’er Hotel in Yunnan, the first hotel of Songtsam’s new sub-brand, Padma.
At the Padma Pu’er Hotel, Chef Su has taken this opportunity to craft unique dishes using the incredible and abundant local ingredients in a creative and integrated way, breaking the stereotype of Yunnan cuisine. “Padma Pu’er and I have a certain fit. I find that in addition to the hotel being in my hometown, it is more open and inclusive, and gives one the feeling of being on vacation. The rich local ingredients, which reflect the surrounding beautiful landscapes, is for me, the icing on the cake. As Songtsam’s Food and Beverage Consultant, I can change the traditional cooking method used here and play with creativity to the extreme,” said Chef Su.
In the new menu for Pu’er, fresh seasonal ingredients in the dishes truly stand out. Pu’er natives love to eat wild vegetables, and Chef Su, familiar with seasonal ingredients, always selects the highest quality. A few of Chef Su’s new creations, crafted with these local ingredients include: Honey Pickled Tree Tomatoes, Wuliang Mountain Chicken Sweet Bamboo Soup, the Pu’er Wild Vegetable Basket, Chickpea Flower, Boiled Fish with Passion Fruit, Honey Chicken, and Oil-chopped Vegetables.
Mr. Baima Duoji, Songtsam Founder and Chairman, noted, “We are extremely fortunate to have Chef Su, who has won international fame and experience, as our Food and Beverage Consultant. What is especially important for us is that Chef Su shares the same Songtsam commitment to sustainability by using local ingredients to create unique gourmet cuisine for our guests.”
Chef Su started his first restaurant in Pu’er, with only 1 yuan (approx. $0.14 USD) and five bowls of fried rice. In the early 1990s, he left his hometown to develop his own culinary boundaries. From Kunming to the whole country and even around the world, an exchange of ideas between Michelin chefs from various countries inspired Chef Su to create a new style of cuisine, bringing international flavors home with him.
In the TV show “Chef Nic,” a Chinese food travelog starring host Nicholas Tse, which features different celebrity guests in each episode, Chef Su and Chef Nic competed on the same stage. After being a guest on “Chef Nic,” Chef Su became an instant celebrity. With few people in Yunnan having made it as celebrity chefs, Chef Su and his gastronomic skills are unique to the local gastronomy scene. Qisheng Su holds many impressive titles including Master of Yunnan cuisine, Winner of the French Le Cordon Bleu gastronomy medal, Founder of Mushroom Molecular cuisine, and Master of International Culinary Arts.
