Nathaniel Johnson | September 1, 2021
The Rise of High End Dining Restaurants in Shenzhen
Shenzhen China is quickly growing into a diverse city as many foreigners looking for new opportunities migrate into this fast growing city. If you have lived here longer than a week, it would go without saying that Shenzhen is still a young and growing city – constantly erecting new skyscrapers filled with café’s, restaurants and new office space. Some can find appreciation in this considering the constantly changing city is always bringing new ideas and innovations such as the Mobike push, new metro lines and, of course, new restaurants.
There has been a unique shift in the food culture of Shenzhen. This is happening because of the rise of diverse and higher end restaurants which are helping to birth a generation of more educated foodies who are becoming more and more excited to step out of the norm and try something new and sophisticated. With this, high-end dining is now gaining great ground in the Shenzhen area – bringing beautiful atmospheres and quality dishes made by executive chefs.
TASTE MOMENT’S High-End Restaurant Experience
Jean Alberti Brings Award Winning Experience To Shenzhen, China
One such chef who sits among the top of renowned chefs is Jean Alberti. Jean Alberti is an award-winning restaurateur who has earned many awards including “Best Apprentice De France” in 1978. He has also cooked dinner for the president of the United States in Paris. He would later go on to establish two iconic San Francisco restaurants: “Evvia” (named after a Greek island) which opened in 1996 and became a frequent gathering place for the likes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and “Kokarri” which was labeled a three-star restaurant by The San Francisco Chronicle. He would later go on to become the culinary Director at Leylati in Saudi Arabia. This exotic posting in the Saudi kingdom catered exclusively to the royal family. As if this was not enough to brag about, he would also cook dinner for H.W Bush (Vice President of the United States), have his restaurant Shikumen voted restaurant of the year by Shanghai Tattler, Invited to prepare the dinner for Bill Gate’s fiftieth birthday, be invited 3 times to cook at the James Beard House in NY and become the Founder of Escoffier Chapter in Macao and Hong Kong. That said, he knew how to create a successful restaurant and chose a great team of professionals to lead the creation of TASTE MOMENT last year. This included General Manager Elena Konshina and Executive Chef from France, Gregory Delbost.
Taste Moment’s open kitchen continues the welcoming atmosphere.
“We source our ingredients very carefully,” says Alberti, “mainly from organic farms in the vicinity. But the style of our cuisine is French and we use French technique.” Freshly squeezed fruit juices and a wine list of mostly organic and biodynamic wines carry out the natural theme.
“Our aim is to be constantly inventive and draw influences from the seasons. We hunt for the most interesting produce from the local farming communities to deliver a clean and natural cuisine with complex preparation, but one that’s never complicated on the plate or the palate.”
-JEAN ALBERTI
Modern Dining Atmosphere at TASTE MOMENT
Restaurant Executive Chef Gregory
TASTE MOMENT has a concept of bringing a high-end French dining experience to China featuring modern French cuisine made with nutritious organic picked vegetables grown from local certified organic farms served in a prestigious environment thus giving a comfortable and engaging dining experience for its guests.
If a restaurant wants to provide a high-end dining experience, it must make sure that it is hiring a high-end Chef and Chef Gregory Delbost definitely has the experience and skills needed for the job. Gregory met with Jean ten years ago in Shanghai during a special event and would loose contact with him until last year when asked to help open TASTE MOMENT. Gregory has been cooking over 20 years. At 16, he began cooking in Paris and would study at Ferrandi (a cooking school of the Chamber of Commerce in Paris).
Working hard as both an apprentice and a student, of French dining, he also works at a French restaurant – Josephine and then moves on to work with Potel et Chatbot which is one of the largest catering companies in France. This helped him gain his experience as well as a Bachelors degree in fine dining at 18 years old.
He stayed in France until he was 27 and would then seek to further his career in China. Arriving in Beijing in 2001, he would open his first restaurant as Executive Chef called Le Chalete. He was in Beijing until 2004 where he moved to open Brasserie Flo in Shanghai China as the executive Chef for two years. Then, he moved Xintiandi Shanghai where he was in charge of Center stage, 88 Xintiandi Hotel, Club by the lake and Club One – all owned at that time by Shun Zhen Food & Beverage Co.
Foir Gras by Gregory Delbost – Executive Chef, TASTE MOMENT
In 2006, he would open his own restaurant in Beijing. Along with his partner, they built a menu of French Original Dishes and ran this restaurant very well for five years. Before being offered a position as Executive Chef at LD and later Shark in Shekou. Last year he chose to bring his talent and experience to TASTE MOMENT as the Executive Chef designing the kitchen to fit his authentic French style of cooking.
Nutritious French Restaurant from Organic Farms
“We source our ingredients very carefully,” says Alberti, “mainly from organic farms in the vicinity. But the style of our cuisine is French and we use French technique.” Freshly squeezed fruit juices and a wine list of mostly organic and biodynamic wines carry out the natural theme. The menu was then crafted to make sure that the dishes were not just house made but also nutritious made fro veggies that are grown on certified organic farms and cooked by a Chef who understands how to maximize the taste of such ingredients. When your eating at TASTE MOMENT, you can rest assured that the food is authentic and made from a France born Chef who takes pride in offering a high-end dining experience to his guests.
TASTE MOMENT uses fresh grown organic produce
Must Try Starters at TASTE MOMENT
A must try when you come to a modern French restaurant like TASTE MOMENT is the “Foie Gras” which is a traditional French dish featuring duck liver. Foie Gras literally means fat liver and is made by cooking a fattened liver of geese or duck after they have been fed a special diet. This dish has a rich buttery texture and has been one of France’s staple dishes. Gregory makes this dish with a slight twist of Chinese fusion to create their “Spiced Sichuan duck liver terrine, mango chutney.” This dish features a traditional Foie Gras that has been marinating with cognac, salt pepper and four different kinds of spices. John then added a Chinese twist by adding the Sichuan spice into the entrée and garnish. It is then cooked in a terrine with mango chutney made from fresh mango and orange juice and serviced with a side of imported French bread.
The second runner-up, which is also a best seller at TASTE MOMENT, is titled “Eggplant Compote Grilled Zucchini. Executive Chef Gregory picked this dish for TASTE MOMENT because it was a great hit in France being created by Gregory’s own head chef Gerard Salle. It is made with sliced oven baked zucchini surrounding a spiced eggplant stewed with onions, tomatoes thyme. It is then topped with Parma ham (or Prosciutto) and an organic salad. This dish is garnished with a side of edible flowers, mushrooms, and veggies over a bed of salted caramel.
Eggplant Compote by TASTE MEMORY
Best Selling Main Courses at TASTE MOMENT
After you’ve tried a healthy appetizer, it would be good to take note of top guest favorites of TASTE MOMENT’s entrée menu starting with their Hudson Bay Cod Fish served with an organic Quinoa risotto & confit tomato. This dish features a Hudson bay cod that is slow cooked in a vacuumed bag filled with orange, lemon, honey and spices for 25 minutes. This gives it a nice and tender texture and an amazing sweet flavor and aroma. It is served with a house made risotto made with nutritious organic quinoa and an organic tomato cooked with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary.
Hudson Bay Cod by TASTE MOMENT
My personal favorite and yet another bestseller is there free-range stuffed chicken breast. A Chicken breast is slow cooked in a vacuum and stuffed with a mushroom and duck foie gras. It is then served with organic vegetables and a chicken truffle sauce. This dish has an amazing flavor contrast – being filled with a buttery foie gras while having a tender and chewy texture of the free range chicken. It is a definite must try!
Authentic French Desserts by TASTE MOMENT
If you find yourself in such a romantic and classy French restaurant, it wouldn’t be right to leave without trying their Crème Brulee. Crème Brulee is a classic French dish that dates back to 1691 and literally can mean, “burnt cream.” This is because a crème Brulee is made by creating rich and creamy custard and coating it with a hard layer of caramel (usually by touching the top layer of the custard). At TASTE MOMENT this dish is service with house made vanilla ice cream that is definitely one of the best scoops of ice cream you can try. They also make a pineapple/mango ice cream and raspberry sorbet.
Another must-try dessert is their Roasted pineapple serviced with vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis. This features a roasted pineapple cooked marinated in fresh orange juice and powdered sugar to caramelize it. It is then grilled and put on a bed of raspberry coulis (which is basically a jelly made by cooking down mixed berries) and serviced with a house-made ice cream or sorbet of your choice.
Imported French Wines
One thing that is unique about TASTE MEMORY is the fact that they offer a wide range of organic French imported wines in their wine menu featuring white and red organic wines. Most of the wines on the wine list at Taste Memory are imported from France with a bit of Australian influence.
A Romantic and Modern Atmosphere at TASTE MOMENT
To add to the traditional French cuisine, TASTE MOMENT offers a modern romantic atmosphere that has been designed by their General Manager Elena Konshina. Elena has been in China for thirteen years and is original from Russia. She initially moved to Beijing where she worked in the luxury industry as well as ran her own trading company. (Personal passion for fine dining and art of cuisine gastronomy, including rich management and operations experience, influenced her decision to join this absolutely new concept project in Shenzhen). During this time, she began doing marketing for a couple of foreign companies before entering the young and growing city of Shenzhen. Her purpose at TASTE MOMENT is to drive the overall concept of high-end dining by creating a luxury interior, offering specialty food and giving its guests a high-end service.
When you come into TASTE MOMENT restaurant, you will quickly notice the modern design and overall luxury feel. To bring the full atmosphere of a modern French restaurant, much thought is put into the overall concept of the atmosphere and overall design of Taste Memory. A rich tonal and textural milieu are provided by sheer white draperies, powder blue dinnerware, and accents of mosaic, glass panels, and exposed brick. The combination of counter seating in delft blue upholstery and table seating in white accommodates about thirty diners, and a relaxed outdoor terrace holds an equal number. Well- educated staff also wear a uniform that was tailor made to fit the overall theme. Elena also oversaw that the flatware (forks, knives, and spoons) was tailor made in a prestigious gold color and unique design. Even the graphic menu is her concept and design. She is also over designing special menu boards, promotional flyers and special décor for private events. If you have a party or special event, rest assured that it would be a five-star event with specially tailored designs by the GM.
“Here at ‘Taste Moment’, our goal is to provide you our valued patron, with a delicious dining experience comprised of healthy, natural, sustainable and fresh ingredients. We source the best products from the rich diversity of China. We all share a vision to deliver a clean and natural cuisine, with complex preparation however never complicated on the plate or the plate. The concept behind this restaurant is to bring the diner experience back to nature.” -ELENA KONSHINA, GENERAL MANAGER
Average Spend Per Person: 400RMB
Place Name: Taste Moment
Place Address: 1 floor, Bldg 1, Block A, 1979 Cultural and creative park, 1011 Qiaoxiang rd, Futian District, Shenzhen
深圳市福田区侨香路1011号1979文化创意园A区1栋1层
Place Phone: (755) 82556173
Email: [email protected]