One of S.F.'s most anticipated restaurants is about to open
A rich, fatty treat composed of cast-off cuts, it was known as a proletariat dish. As diners' preferences changed, many Hong Kong restaurants stopped making it.
But in San Francisco, chef James Yeun Leong Parry will revive it at his much-anticipated modern Chinese restaurant, the Happy Crane, opening Aug. 8 at 451 Gough St. His golden coin will look different: chicken liver mousse and thin slices of melty, slow-cooked coppa perched atop a house-made bao with pickled ginger and chives.
'A lot of my inspiration comes from humble ingredients or humble dishes and those techniques, I feel, are dying,' Parry said.
Parry, a fine dining chef known for his popular Happy Crane popup, hopes to at once preserve traditional Chinese foodways, and interpret them for a new generation. Born in England but raised in Hong Kong, Parry went on to work at Corey Lee's three-Michelin-star Benu in San Francisco, as well as Michelin-starred restaurants in Hong Kong.
The Happy Crane is equipped with a hulking, super-hot duck oven to prepare whole Peking-style birds. A stone mill will be used to grind fresh rice for cheung fun, or rice noodle rolls. Parry added a wok station to the kitchen of the prominent corner space in Hayes Valley, last occupied by Lee's French bistro Monsieur Benjamin.
The menu is a la carte, though diners can opt for a $120 chef's choice dinner. Dim sum favorites like firecracker shrimp and fish-stuffed eggplant take on new forms and flavors here, the latter topped with sweet uni and Worcestershire sauce (a nod to Parry's birthplace). Braised beef shins ($19) are paired with confit artichokes, sliced to mimic the appearance of beef tendons, and an aromatic sauce made from a master stock.
The rice roll ($33), which Parry said has a 'gelatinous' mouthfeel thanks to the fresh-milled rice, comes with crab and a sauce made from crab shells, butter, and shaoxing wine.
The craft of siu mei, or roasted meats, is a passion of Parry's. At popups, he made char siu with pork jowl, a cut of meat more common in Hong Kong than the Bay Area, which will continue at the restaurant. The whole ducks, available by pre-order ($110), come with housemade pancakes and tian mian jiang, a thick, fermented sauce that Parry elevates with pluot juice.
Parry also plans to apply the techniques of Cantonese duck to roasted Wolfe Ranch quail with lacquered skin ($41). And crispy pork belly ($45), siu yuk, gets its turn in the ripping-hot duck oven.
'Basically, it's several steps of burning the skin to get that crispy, charred flavor,' Parry said. The pork belly is finished on a Japanese charcoal grill and served with a miso hot mustard, choy sum and tomato relish.
'Particularly here in the West where labor is really tough, these traditional elements, because they're very time-consuming and very specific in terms of the craft, people are trying to find shortcuts,' said Parry. 'I understand it economically, but as a craft, I think it's really important to preserve.'
Desserts pull on childhood nostalgia: seasonal frozen yogurt, which Parry grew up eating in Hong Kong, and mochi balls that channel the chocolate-hazelnut flavor of Ferrero Rocher, a typical Chinese New Year gift.
Parry and Happy Crane bar manager Carolyn Kao (previously of top spots True Laurel and Good Good Culture Club in San Francisco and Oakland bar Viridian) brought in Kevin Diedrich of famed San Francisco bar Pacific Cocktail Haven to develop drinks. They play with Chinese ingredients like lychee, red bean and five-spice throughout the menu. The Rosy Dawn, one of the first cocktails recorded in Hong Kong by writer Charles H. Baker, mixes gin with jasmine, coconut-fig leaf-rhubarb cordial and cherry liqueur. Diedrich reinterpreted Pacific Cocktail Haven's popular gimlet for the Happy Crane with sakura tea, a cordial made from Japanese citrus, and dried tangerine peel bitters, a traditional Chinese seasoning. Nonalcoholic drinks and Chinese teas will also be available.
General manager and advanced sommelier Justin Chin, who previously worked at San Francisco fine-dining restaurants Gary Danko, Spruce, Ju-Ni and Hina Yakitori, developed the wine list. It's largely focused on Champagne, German Riesling and Burgundy. Wines by the glass range from $16 to $37 for high-end Champagne.
'I think a lot of people think of wine as an afterthought with Chinese food,' said Chin, a San Francisco native who grew up visiting family in Hong Kong.' I think it's appropriate to showcase that wines at this level can match the food, or vice versa.'
The Gough Street building with dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows has been transformed into a warm, open space filled with personal touches. Two stone mythical creature statues, given to Parry by his uncle as symbols of protection and prosperity, flank the front doors. Banquettes are made from English tweed. Parry's sister, Yolande, painted artwork in the moody bathroom and illustrations for the cocktail menu. The heart of the dining room is a 14-seat wraparound bar covered in wavy, textured layers of plaster, meant to evoke a style of traditional Chinese landscape painting. Dishes will be served on bowls and plates made by a Taiwanese artist and a local ceramicist. A large floral paper lantern hangs over a 12-seat private dining room, which will be used for general reservations when it's not booked.
The Happy Crane adds to a wave of next -generation Chinese restaurants. Chef-owner Brandon Jew is often credited with leading the charge when he opened Mister Jiu's in San Francisco in 2016. Two alumni of the Chinatown Michelin-starred restaurant are now running nationally acclaimed newcomer Four Kings.
The genre, Parry said, is 'starting to wake up and gather momentum with these modern versions of Chinese cuisine through different people's lenses.'
The Happy Crane. Opening Aug. 8. 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 451 Gough St., San Francisco. thehappycranesf.com
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