“Peer into a day in the life of one of our chefs, Sophia. From picking up ingredients at the local market, to teaching a group of knowledge hungry culinary students in our courtyard cooking school – we bring Chinese culture into the kitchen.”
Sue was born in the rural Zhejiang province and moved to the Netherlands as a young girl. She can still remember her grandparents making homemade potato starch noodles and tofu. Growing up in the multicultural Netherlands, Sue loves to be introduced to new foods and finds cooking to be meditative act.
Sophia is from Inner Mongolia, and while she misses the endless stretch of blue sky of her native home town, she loves the vibrancy of Beijing. She first started cooking under her mother’s gaze rolling dumpling skins and making cat ear noodles.
She also has a degree from the China National Nutrition Association and is passionate about creating balanced meals
Samia co-owns Mughals, the Pakistani restaurant in Nali Patio.Many of Samia’s customers ask her for recipes, and she feels The Hutong is the perfect venue to share her knowledge and passion for Pakistani cuisine and culture.
Hailing from a family of restaurateurs, Reshma grew up spending many a summer holiday watching chefs cook and honing her talent under trained eyes. Her own family hails from Kerala, Hyderabad, Maharashtra and Gujarat and over the years, Reshma has collected recipes from relatives and friends. She believes that gastronomy can be made simple, and can cater to the requirements of modern life without losing authentic flavors.
This adventurous chef started cooking at her parents’ restaurant in the cloud forest of Ecuador. After graduating from high-school Joanna moved to Israel where she found her first cooking job at a Kibbutz kitchen. While traveling she had the opportunity to try different flavors, spices and tastes from the Middle East, Europe, North and South America and discovered that her cooking skills could bring her friends together.
“Homemade, from scratch” is the only way Cherry has known food. As a young child in Shenyang, Cherry was forbidden to consume any food outside of the Li household. A age six, the natural answer to the saliva dripping down her chin as passed by chuanr or jianbing vendors was to take command of a mini-Chinese cleaver and create her own versions of these street foods. Her big culinary break came at the age of 10 after moving to Los Angeles with her family when she earned the title of head dumpling skin flattener. In addition to teaching at The Hutong, Cherry caters events with her company ABC Kitchen.
When 14 year old Ali came back from a holiday in Paris, she promptly opened up Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and began to prepare all things pastry for her friends and family. Ali likes to come up with locally inspired baked goods such as the ma tuan cookie, a date pie, and a bintanghulu cupcake.
Miya is from Jiangsu province in Eastern China. When she was little Miya liked to go to her uncle’s restaurant and watch the chefs cook. Her family was involved in the pork industry and everyone knew how to prepare the infamous braised pork belly or Hong Shao Rou. Although she has been surrounded by talented cooks her whole life, Miya still thinks her mother’s food is still the best.
Filippo hails from a small town on top of a hill in the Tuscan countryside of Italy, where time stands still – a throwback to a bygone era. Time-honored culinary traditions and the careful selection of the best ingredients is what shaped Filippo’s cooking style. Filippo looks forward to sharing the secrets of of traditional artisan baking and homestyle Italian cooking so that you can achieve the best results with the tools available in your kitchen.
