Why chef Simone Tong chose to serve Yunnan food to New York diners: ‘I want to present a different picture of Chinese cuisine’
- Born in Chengdu, Tong lived in Macau, Beijing, Shenzhen and Singapore before settling in the US
- When not running her restaurants she plays poker, which has helped teach her patience
What food reminds you of your childhood? “I spent a lot of time with my grandparents in Chengdu [Sichuan province]. I remember smelling coal-roasted sweet potatoes and eating chicken gizzard. My family then moved to Macau, where I had tofu fa [tofu custard], ginger egg custard and curry fishballs. I would spend all my pocket money buying them on the streets.
“When I was five years old, I returned to Chengdu and I discovered pomegranate. The first time I saw it I thought it was odd looking because it had so many little seeds. I also had edamame, boiled in salty water, as an afternoon snack.”
You moved a lot then? “Yes, I moved around, like, almost every year. I studied in 13 schools in the first 12 years of my life. My parents were entrepreneurs, so they travelled a lot. Aside from Macau, I also lived in Beijing and Shenzhen before moving to Singapore. Moving that much was quite unpleasant but I learned to adapt and be independent.”
What was Singapore like? “I moved there in my early teens. I was ambitious. I wanted to be the first in class. I did a lot of studying so I would watch less TV, except on weekends when my parents were away. I watched Sex and the City or Felicity, and that’s how my English improved.”
When did you realise you wanted to be a chef? “One night my friend suggested I watch After Hours with Daniel Boulud. I came across an episode where Wylie Dufresne, chef of wd~50 [in New York, now closed], did molecular gastronomy and I thought that was fun. He combined food and science, and it was so creative. At that moment, I wanted to be a professional chef. I enrolled at New York’s Institute of Culinary Education so I could intern at wd~50.”