World Expo, 2010 World Expo, Shanghai, China Growing Organic

The US Pavilion is 3 stories; the VIP area/kitchen is located on the top floor and separated by the two buildings is the organic chef garden. After a few quick translation sessions with the garden keepers they are now growing everything for our specifications. It has become my own personal organic supermarket! (Something that is so far from reality in China)

This garden is located about 50 steps from my kitchen door, so much like an organic farmer, we pop out to pick what is ready to harvest for the day. The US Pavilion is the only building with its own sustainable garden. additions to this garden have been planted in deep roasting pans and other kitchen wares to showcase that it is truly now a “chef’s garden”.

I dedicate to this post to all chefs that are as passionate as myself to enjoying the “back door” garden and to close friend, organic farmer, and entrepreneur, Marie Tedei, owner of the thriving Edens Garden in Balch Springs, Texas.

Come visit us in China, we would love to see you!

Happy Birthday America!

Hello all- a bit behind on updating about the food scene from the Pavilion- The basic run down on sourcing ingredients in China has come to be more challenging than expected! I will elaborate more in future posts, but for now let me wind back the clock to America’s Birthday.. July 4, 2010.  The Pavilion closed for a private function, we hosted the Commissioner General and other VIPs along with the USAP staff.   The party kicked off with the open bar and tons of individual cold canapés, followed up by a wide range of reinterpreted “picnic classics”.  It was an exciting evening for all of us! The party was finished off with the cake cutting ceremony and big photo session.   To be quite honest there were so many flashes shooting off it reminded me of when I was at The Beverly Hilton during the Golden Globe Awards. Much of the products we are accustomed to back home are hard to come by here, that is the beauty of being able to work closely with Director Batwin of the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office here in Shanghai.  We both share the same passion for importing and sourcing the best products from local farms.  ….China the land of the red tape

This cake will be in many future publications and print all throughout the world- I wish I could have brought in my close friend and dynamic Pastry Chef Christine D’Angeli from Slice Cake Designs!

Sneak Peak inside the World Expo Grounds 2010

Here are some updated random shots from inside the Expo grounds.  The USA Pavilion is the 3^rd busiest pavilion out of 197 participating countries.

The average wait time to enter the show (7 minutes long, then right into the retail store) is 4 hours.  Now, the last time I remember standing in any line for that long was to buy U2 tickets back during the Achtung Baby tour… remember those days before the internet!

….I doubt anyone holds your place in line if you need that emergency bathroom break, careful if you’re coming to the US Pavilion!

More shots to come…

First Shots of Shanghai

First shots of Shanghai…

Touching down in Shanghai after a long flight “across the creek”…

I was picked up by Mr. Chow (the official driver for the Pavillion), great guy!  It was an excellent introduction to the kindness and warmth of the Chinese people.