On the final day of the inaugural Chef’s Table Festival in Park City, a small group gathered around one long table in the dining room of Park City’s Washington School House Hotel. The historic building, named after George Washington and with a colonial style to match, got a light Chinese mak eover courtesy of visiting chef Guirong Wei for Sunday’s brunch. Menus depicted a watercolor-like Autumn rendition of Wei’s home region — the south of Shaanxi Province in China — with mountains and a persimmon tree dotted with the orange fruits. And it wasn’t just the art that nodded to Shaanxi. “Today I’d love to take you on a light journey back home with me,” Wei said before the meal. “Each dish has a story and a memory behind it.” Some of the dishes were recreations of popular items at her five restaurants in London, which are all designed around serving the unique cuisine of Shaanxi and its capital city, Xi’an. It’s that approach — with dishes like bam bam noodles and handmade dumplings — that got Wei a feature on the “Chef’s Table: Noodles” Netflix series.  “The food I cook is still the food of my home; the flavors I grew up with and the food my family ate together,” Wei said. “My hometown has many beautiful mountains, so being here in Park City, with the mountains and its lovely weather, makes me feel a little bit like I’m back home.” Visiting chef Guirong Wei introduces herself before Sunday’s meal in the dining room of the Washington School House Hotel on Park Ave. Credit: Katie Hatzfeld/Park Record Ryan Frye, the executive chef and general manager of Washington School House, said it’s watching episodes of “Chef’s Table” like Wei’s that helps fuel his own passion for cooking. “The emotional side of it, the passion that all these guys have and the journeys they’ve gone through is really inspiring,” Frye said. “People have been doing it their whole lives, and there’s always more to learn, which just makes it more and more exciting.” He was especially eager to get involved with the inaugural festival in town and said the hotel is a unique venue. The 12-room property is the only two Michelin key hotel in Utah, he said, which means it’s full of “character and charm, run with obvious pride and considerable care” and guarantees “an exceptional stay.” Frye said the small hotel means guests become like family during their stay, which matched the vibe of Wei’s brunch.  To start, she made a cucumber and jellyfish salad prepared with a traditional cooking method from Xi’an of pouring hot oil over spices to bring out their aroma and flavor. Washington School House Hotel executive chef Ryan Frye, left, oversees chef Wei’s team as they prepare the cucumber and jellyfish salad course. Credit: Katie Hatzfeld/Park Record “I’m not really sure if you like jellyfish, but give it a try,” said Wei’s business partner, Tily Liu. “The cucumber is fresh and crisp, and the jellyfish gives you a special texture.” Next was huluji chicken, which is a famous dish in Shaanxi. Liu said the dish is traditionally served to welcome guests, one of the reasons they chose to serve it during the festival meal. “I think this is a fun dish to have here in Utah because, maybe you know, the first KFC fried chicken opened in Utah back in 1952. In Xi’an, we had our crispy chicken for a little bit longer history: It can trace back to Tang Dynasty, so 1,000 years ago,” said Liu. Then, what many diners had been waiting for, Wei’s three delicacies dumplings. Made with a filling of pork, shrimp and seaweed, the dumplings were served with a traditional chili oil. Liu said, in Shaanxi, dumplings are about being together. They are often eaten with family and represent home and reunion, she said. The filling is Wei’s own creation, which had become popular in their restaurant in London. Credit: Katie Hatzfeld/Park Record Credit: Katie Hatzfeld/Park Record Left: Chef Guirong Wei’s pork, shrimp and seaweed dumplings have become popular at her restaurant in London. Right: A huluji chicken course on Sunday is prepared in a centuries-old method from the Shaanxi Province of China. To finish the meal, a sweet fermented rice and persimmon dish made with pumpkin had a porridge-like consistency. Persimmon is especially important to Shaanxi and the area where Wei grew up. “When autumn comes, you see the beautiful orange fruits everywhere,” Liu said. “Guirong lived in the mountain when she was little. The best thing for her is in the autumn, standing on the top of the mountain to look down, and there’s just persimmons everywhere.”  As a gift, Wei and her team passed out a pair of chopsticks and invited everyone outside for a dumpling demonstration. Wei rolled out dough for the dumplings and showed how to scoop the filling and then seal the edges between her thumbs and third fingers. In her “magic hands,” Liu called them, the edges are crimped together in a blink. But for the attendees trying it out for first time, Wei said it was OK to pinch the seal together slowly. Jennifer Wesselhoff, president and CEO of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, was the brave first volunteer to try the technique. “It’s like a pierogi,” she told Wei. “I’m Polish, so it’s like a Polish pierogi.” Liu gave Wesselhoff a dried persimmon as a prize for going first. From left: Liu Bo, Park City chef Ryan Frye, Chef’s Table Festival visiting chef Guirong Wei, Tily and Kris celebrate after their brunch event at Washington School House Hotel on Sunday. Credit: Photo courtesy of Ryan Frye While Sunday’s brunch marked the end of the festival, Frye said he hopes the experience was lasting, not just for the chef teams that participated, but for attendees as well. “It’s pretty incredible, just the names on the ticket and being able to bring all those different cultures and food experiences to somewhere, especially Utah, of all places,” he said. “To have all these big guys come to Park City and show people this amazing variety of foods … can be super inspiring for people to use moving forward, whether they’re opening a restaurant or just cooking at home.” The post Chinese chef demonstrates ‘the poetry of dough’ at Chef’s Table brunch appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less