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Lu Bo Lang Restaurant and the Clintons
By:Wu Qiong, Xu Chuxin  |  From:english.eastday.com  |  2019-10-14 08:38

Situated in Shanghai’s City God Temple, the Lu Bo Lang Restaurant was constructed in a 400-year-old building built in the Ming Dynasty. Looking over the zigzag bridge and the lotus pond, it enjoys an advantageous position. What it is also famous for is the desserts and Shanghai dishes it serves. Among its consumers, the most well-known is the Clinton family.

General manager of the Lu Bo Lang Restaurant, Lu Yaming, was head of the dim sum department when US president Bill Clinton visited Shanghai 21 years ago on June 30, 1998. According to Lu, the Clinton family and his entourage were the highest level US government delegation they had received.

(Lu Yaming, general manager of Lu Bo Lang Restaurant)

An ordinary but unusual “family dinner”

Starting from the reception of Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia in 1973, Lu Bo Lang has received over 80 foreign heads of state as honored guests. But it was Bill Clinton’s arrival that made the restaurant shoot to fame, said Lu Yaming with gratitude.

Prior to Clinton’s visit, the U.S. consulate had sampled several restaurants in Shanghai, and Lu Bo Lang’s overall performance stood out. Keeping a low profile, the consulate staff tasted many dishes and demanded they be served within 20 minutes because of the president’s busy schedule. Recalling the story of Clinton’s arrival, Lu said the whole restaurant was under great pressure.“It’s not difficult to make the dishes, while the most important thing is to ensure the hygiene of the food,” recalled Lu.

(Red date pastry)

On the lunch table, Lu Bo Lang prepared six cold dishes, four hot dishes and six desserts, and served them alternatively. They included: edamame with salted vegetables, chicken with cashew nuts, smoked fish, sweet-scented osmanthus rice cake, shredded turnip cake, cabbage buns, steamed dumplings, and spring rolls. Despite the homely ingredients, they were made to the highest specifications.

By rule, dishes and desserts cannot be cooked overnight. On June 30, Lu Yaming got up very early and was busy working with his aprerentices until 11:30 am. To ensure food hygiene, Lu said, there is no tolerance to a single hair and the operation needs to abide by standards and regulations. In addition, to ensure a perfect look, there should be no blocks of overburnt red date paste while making the red date pastry.

Clinton’s favorite dishes

For Bill Clinton and his entourage, waitresses from Jinjiang Hotel with foreign language abilities were dispatched to Lu Bo Lang for the table service. Even the uniform, the tableware and the tablecloth were carefully selected. The blue and white patterns reflected the typical characteristics of the southern part of China, different from what President Clinton had seen in his last stop in Xi’an.

(Bao Lingling)

“Mr. Clinton was very gracious. He shook hands with each waiter,” said Bao Lingling, one of the waitresses. The room for the Clinton family was on the third floor of Lu Bo Lang, where Bill Clinton had to bend over to enter. “As soon as he came in, he took off his suit jacket and sat down at the table, very casually.”

“Mr. Clinton brought his family here, including his wife, daughter, and mother-in-law, as well as the White House entourage. We set two tables for them. Ten sat by the main table and the other nine by the other table. They chatted with each other while having the lunch, in a relaxed manner.”

The whole family enjoyed themselves at the table. Clinton had two favorite dishes: edamame with salted vegetables and chicken with cashew nuts. Originating from Sichuan cuisine, the latter was cooked with a sweet and sour flavor. They were both authentic Chinese dishes.

As Bao recalled, Chelsea, Bill Clinton's daughter, preferred shredded turnip cake. “Stretching out her neck, she found there was one left at the other table. So she went up, grabbed it and put it in her mouth.”

Another story about the meal is the osmanthus rice cake, a specialty of Lu Bo Lang. Made from glutinous rice, the cake is sticky but chewy. Though Clinton had practiced using chopsticks for over one month before his visit to China, he still failed to pick up the cake twice. Each time, the chopsticks also fell onto the table. At last, a waitress helped him to move the cake to his plate. It turned out that Clinton likes the cake, despite all the troubles he went through.

The dinner was planned to last 20 minutes; however, to the surprise of the restaurant staff, Clinton and his delegation were there for one hour and 20 minutes. Clinton was very satisfied with the lunch.

Afterwards, the restaurant received a thank-you letter from the U.S. embassy, speaking highly of its hospitality. The staff were very proud. From then on, many customers came to the restaurant for osmanthus rice cakes, aping the former US president. In 2011, when Lu Yaming went to the United States for a TV program, he introduced the story of Bill Clinton eating the cake. As a result, many Americans who were not a fan of glutinous rice were willing to have a try. Falling in love with the cake, they even asked for a take-away serving.

New era of the old brand


(Desserts and dishes from the Lu Bo Lang Restaurant take part in the Shanghai Catering Industry Service Skills Competition.)

Since Clinton’s visit, Lu Bo Lang has received many honored guests like former Argentine president Carlos Sasit, former Cuban president Fidel Castro, becoming an important place for foreign affairs reception. With standardized and regulated management, the restaurant’s food quality enjoys an esteemed reputation.

(Lu Bo Lang’s exquisite desserts)

To suit various tastes of guests from all over the world, the time-honored Lu Bo Lang keeps improving its cooking ideas. For Muslim guests, for example, the dessert cooks will replace lard oil with butter. After the oil and the water is seperated, the oil will be mixed with peanut oil. “In doing so, the restaurant respects the guests’ tradition of not eating lard, but also ensures the high quality of Lu Bo Lang’s cooking technique,” said Lu, who believes that such kind of innovation should be thought over in normal times.

Back in 1984, Lu Yaming came to Shanghai from his hometown in Jiangsu province and took over his father’s job as a dessert cook. Today, he is the man at the helm of the Lu Bo Lang Restaurant. Having been making Chinese desserts for over 30 years, he still keeps his original intent in mind; preserving the classics of Lu Bo Lang. In the meantime, he admited that the old brand needed to keep pace with current trends and innovate in taste and service. For example, it is now making Chinese food with Western seasonings. That reflects the essence of Shanghai cuisine: inclusive but still keeping its inherence.

At present, the Lu Bo Lang Restaurant, after renovation, is reopened to the public. Lu hopes the new Lu Bo Lang will have a new life, attracting more youngsters and becoming a place carrying the younger generation’s cherished memories.

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