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18.06.12
New look, new tastes, new and old faces at David’s
Beloved Melbourne Chinese dining institution, David’s takes a playful interpretation of country style Shanghaies cuisine with a ‘new look’ that will be launched to the public on the July 5th 2012.
David Zhou is enthusiastic about the new direction of the flagship store and has appointed a new Head Chef, Mr Chen who will report to the long standing David’s Executive Chef, Jeffery Xiao.
David’s new menu will pursue a ‘Shanghai country style’ direction, look for stand out dishes such as the “soft shell river prawns” and the “pork belly and potato”, says David Zhou: “Shanghai cuisine is all about slow cooking showcase the true delicate flavours of the produce, it is also about creating master red sauce which are mainly soy based. You will also find a lot of ‘drunken’ dishes in Shanghai style cuisine, dishes with rice wine that are briskly cooked/steamed or served raw. We intend to serve drunken crab, drunken chicken, amongst other delicacies”.
Established in 1999, David’s became an instant success with Melbourne’s dining cognoscenti, who flocked to David’s for their unique, quality Shanghai cuisine, served with immense style in a contemporary environment, inspired by the golden days of the Shanghai Bund. In one revolutionary swoop, David’s completely reinvented what people thought of Chinese cuisine in Melbourne.
This instant fame came as somewhat of a surprise to a humble David Zhou, who initially ran a Tea warehouse 15 years ago and was content to merely have one table and one chair, so people could sample and savour his restorative tea before buying.
David soon found himself reinvented as a restaurateur when people began asking for food to be matched with his sublime Chinese teas. Since then, David’s has received a total of 10 coveted chef hats. Now, David Zhou operates four different tea establishments, called ‘The Oriental Tea House’ all share a design aesthetic that is contemporary, chic and oriental.
Carrying through his love of inspired interiors, David Zhou has appointed Hecker Guthrie to rediscover the mysteries of the East, as expressed through the new David’s restaurant interior. Says Hamish Guthrie: “Hecker Guthrie’s design for the new David’s draws on the heritage of old Shanghai and Melbourne’s lively hospitality scene, which gives a new life to the warehouse architecture of the building. We have brought a playful, fresh design to the established restaurant while reflecting the traditional honesty, simplicity and homeliness of the new menu on offer from David.”
David’s will close its doors from Monday June 11th 2012 and will reopen to take bookings from Monday July 5th 2012.
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