Chinese restaurant in Temple City, California
Bistro Na's
(Chinese:
那家小?
) is a
Chinese restaurant
in
Temple City, California
. The restaurant specializes in
Chinese imperial cuisine
.
Background
[
edit
]
According to
LA Weekly
food critic David Chan,
Los Angeles County
has predominated the "
Chinese cuisine
in the United States". However,
high-end
Chinese restaurants
had been infrequent in the area, including short-lived ones, and "would [...] easily be found in China". Also, many food critics and "rich Chinese" of the area were unimpressed with generally Chinese restaurants, including high-end ones. Chan explained the rarity of high-end Chinese restaurants: most Chinese restaurants had set their meals to low prices, and "the ultra-expensive Chinese food in the
San Gabriel Valley
" had been usually "Hong Kong?style restaurants serving live seafood" usually imported from overseas.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
Beijing
-based restaurant group Na Jia Xiao Guan (那家小?) has fifteen branches in China and has used recipes from the
Imperial China
-era. An ancestor of the group's founder was a doctor of an Imperial Court.
[2]
The group opened its first North American branch Bistro Na's at a
strip mall
of
Temple City, California
, in late 2016.
[1]
[2]
The restaurant has specialized in
Chinese imperial cuisine
.
[1]
Its interior setting is "regal": the dining room uses red and gold colors, and there are "intricate, warm wood moldings".
[3]
The restaurant also has private rooms, including ones "with big, round tables for banquet-style feasts".
[4]
One of the chefs is Tian Yong, who has had over twenty-year years of experience as of July 2021 and previously worked at the Grand Mansion Restaurant and at the
2008 Summer Olympics
, both in Beijing.
[4]
Best-selling dishes in May 2017 were
US$
24 crispy shrimp (
?皮大明?
), $39 prime
beef rib
, $36 peppered
lamb chop
, and $20 Emperor's Jar soup (
beef tendon
, mushroom,
fish maw
,
quail egg
, and
sea cucumber
).
[1]
[5]
The menu also offered a $35.50 two-person set, which "include[d] a
tofu skin
salad, crispy shrimp, baby mustard heart vegetables, Emperor's Jar Soup [...],
milkfish
, and fresh
pear juice
."
[5]
Besides crispy shrimp, the menu further includes smoke
pork ribs
,
Na's Braised Pork Belly
, Na's Steamed Chicken, Chili Tofu Skin Salad, steamed egg with tofu sticks, Na's Secret Tofu (deep-fried tofu on
bok choy
leaves served with dipping sauce),
Cucumber
and
Radish
Salad, Fried Mixed Mushrooms with Rice Cracker Bites,
okra
in seasoned dressing, Stir-fried Pea Sprouts with Mushrooms,
dried shrimp
with
napa cabbage
, steamed
king crab
dishes (including one
Dungeness crab
with pumpkin and the other crab with
ginger
and
scallion
), sea cucumber with beef tendon, braised
abalone
with sea cucumber, kung pao lobster, old Beijing pancakes, and noodle dishes like Beijing Zhajian Noodles.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[6]
[7]
Desserts included sweet fried
rice cake
, Milky Cheese "pudding in a fish-shaped mold", and a "platter of
mochi
and cakes".
[2]
[3]
[6]
The restaurant's "high-quality ingredients" include "fresh tofu skin, American lamb chops, Canadian jumbo
scallops
, and South American
prawns
". A chef Tian Yong has intended to cook "distinct dishes" rather than dishes similarly found in "other Chinese restaurants".
[4]
Reception
[
edit
]
Bistro Na's earned its Best Chinese Restaurant nomination for the 2018 Global Cuisine Awards.
[8]
It lost to another Los Angeles restaurant Chengdu Taste (滋味成都).
[9]
The restaurant earned its first
Michelin star
in June 2019.
[10]
Also in June 2019, food critic Bill Addison of
Los Angeles Times
criticized the restaurant's "mediocre cooking", even with its "far grander setting".
[11]
In 2021, Michelin-starred California-based chefs, including Jon Yao, praised the restaurant's "best-executed Chinese food".
[4]
Until its star loss in December 2022,
[12]
Bistro Na's was the only Michelin-starred
Chinese restaurant
in the Los Angeles area.
[2]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Chan, David (June 1, 2017).
"Fine Chinese Dining Has Arrived in Los Angeles"
.
LA Weekly
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Chan, David R. (September 12, 2019).
"Chinese Takeout: A Dining Upheaval in LA's San Gabriel Valley"
.
Radii China
. Radii Media
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Bistro Na's"
.
Time Out
. July 17, 2019
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Wang, Andy (July 7, 2021).
"The Chinese Restaurant Beloved by LA's Best Chefs"
.
Robb Report
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Hang, Kristie (May 1, 2017).
"Everything You Should Be Eating During the San Gabriel Valley Asian Restaurant Dining Week"
.
LAist
.
- ^
a
b
"Bistro Na's, Tample
[sic]
City"
.
FoodNut
. November 12, 2019
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
"Bistro Na's ? Temple City"
.
ChowYum
. December 17, 2019
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
"Lamb in Japan, More Slices of Pizza Museum and 2018 Food Tourism Trends"
.
Modern Restaurant Management
. October 24, 2018
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
"The 2nd Global Cuisine Awards Celebrated the Top Chefs & Restaurants of Los Angeles"
.
Business Wire
(Press release). December 7, 2018
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
Chang, Andrea (June 4, 2019). "24 L.A. restaurants receive Michelin stars".
Los Angeles Times
. p. B-2.
ISSN
0458-3035
.
ProQuest
2234336924
.
- ^
Addison, Bill (June 4, 2019).
"What rings true and false for Los Angeles in Michelin's new California guide"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
December 28,
2021
.
- ^
Avalle, Nico (December 6, 2022).
"This ls the Full List of California Restaurants That Kept, Earned, or Lost Michelin Stars in 2022"
.
Bon Appetit
. Retrieved
January 17,
2023
.
External links
[
edit
]