Universal Studios Hollywood gets a real taste of China

Dongpo Kitchen at Universal CityWalk Key Exterior Image. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A casual rendition of a famous Chinese restaurant has opened at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, geared to the increasing number of Chinese tourists as well as a wider audience.

Dongpo Kitchen, a restaurant uniquely designed for Universal City, is inspired by the Beijing-based restaurant Meizhou Dongpo, famous for its Sichuan-style fusion of traditional and creative cooking.

The new restaurant focuses on authentic cuisine, offering a variety of signature dishes ranging from Dongpo fried noodles to roast duck salad and spicy chicken to specialty beverage shakes, such as Dragon Well green tea and roasted oolong milk tea.

"We have a huge library of dishes – hundreds and hundreds of individual items. All of them are authentic and original Sichuan cuisine," Xing You, project coordinator of Dongpo Kitchen, says in a video.

Located in a remodeled venue, the restaurant features distinctive design elements, such as calligraphy, and pays homage to Su Shi (1037-1101), also known as Su Dongpo, a Chinese writer, poet, painter and calligrapher of the Song Dynasty. Su, who was also known as a chef, has a prominent dish in Hangzhou cuisine — Dongpo pork— named for him.

The interior of the restaurant looks to draw parallels between Dongpo's rich legacy and what his artist's studio loft might have looked like, according to CallisonRTKL, designer of the restaurant. For example, the "Scholar's Four Jewels" — writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper — were incorporated into the design.

The arrival of Dongpo Kitchen to CityWalk, a three-block entertainment, dining and shopping promenade at the theme park, coincides with a multimillion dollar revitalization of the plaza.

CityWalk's renovation includes new restaurants, shopping, design features and a state-of-the-art movie theater renovation.

Universal Studios Hollywood has been a must-see destination for Chinese tourists. Disneyland, Hollywood and Universal Studios Hollywood are the top three draws in California for Chinese tourists, according to Visit California.

Last year, 780,000 Chinese people visited Los Angeles and spent more than $1.1 billion, as China surpassed Canada as the second-largest source of international tourists.

This year, the theme park added two attractions — "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" in April and "The Walking Dead" in July — both proving popular with Chinese visitors.

Dongpo Kitchen has high expectations.

"It's always been our desire to present our cuisine to a wider audience," You said. "We couldn't think of a better stage to perform than where we are right now."