For years I had dreamed of opening a Sichuanese restaurant in London. Long periods of research in China had shown me the thrilling diversity of Chinese cuisines and my job as a reviewer of Chinese restaurants in London had made me wonder why Sichuanese was so poorly represented in this most cosmopolitan of cities. In particular, it seemed extraordinary that Londoners, with their love of spicy Thai and Indian food, were not able to sample the fiery and many-layered flavours of Sichuan Province.
So when I received, out of the blue, an e-mail from a Chinese businessman who was setting up a Sichuanese restaurant in Soho, I responded immediately. Shao Wei knew about my book, Sichuan Cookery, and had got my contacts from a friend in the coin department of the British Museum. We met for a coffee in Soho in late September last year and immediately clicked.
