Celebrate The Year of The Dragon
with our Chinese New Year Banquet,
served January 20 thru February 25.
$55 per person, minimum of 4 or more.
Hors D'Oeuvre Trio
Open-Ended Chicken Spinach Dumplings;
Firecracker Truffle-Oiled Tri-Mushroom Spring Roll;
Wok Sesame Jumbo Shrimp, Asian Pear Baby Greens Salad
Potato Crisped Crab Cakes
With string beans and coconut saffron sauce
Wok Tsing-Tao Beer Maine Lobster
& Day Boat Scallop with ginger, scallions, sweet peas,
shiitake and Fuchow fishballs
Roasted Chilean Sea Bass
With Shanghai baby bok choy, red pepper, shiitake,
Shanghai rice cake, mango-miso sauce
Wok-Charred Huckleberry Plum Duck
Low fat "Pekin" duck, marinated in
Galliano,with huckleberry emulsion and taro cake
Pan-Seared Shallot Filet Mignon Medallions
(Spicy) with onion, edamame, corn, basil, garlic, spicy shallot sauce
Saffron-Infused Vegetable Fried Rice
with fresh yellow corn, snow peas, onion, tomato, egg,
Thai basil and scallions
Happy Mocha Tower
With white and milk chocolate mousse, devil's food cake,
accompanied by fresh berries
TICKET TO DINING
CinCin celebrates 15th anniversary with its usual quiet grace
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
By Frank D. Quattrone, Ticket Editor
Photo by Eve M. Quattrone
CinCin's partners (L to R) Henry Lee and Michael Wei..
Even after 15 years of world-class hospitality and inviting pan-Asian cuisine, Chestnut Hill's CinCin Restaurant maintains its sweetly playful sense of humor. It all began in 1996, when the restaurant described its distinctive place in the region's culinary landscape as "Chinese kissed by French."
That promise, never broken, has lured the curious to this simple but sophisticated dining haven. Now the menu teases, "Give in to CinCin" and "Repent tomorrow. CinCin tonight." These culinary come-ons are amply justified when guests consider the delectable fare before them.
So what's in a name? CinCin, whose name translates into "delightful spring," is one of the four fine restaurants owned or co-owned by gentle, beloved restaurateur Michael Wei. The others are Willow Grove's popular Mandarin Garden, one of the area's first Chinese restaurants to offer fusion food; Bryn Mawr's Yangming, which this year was named the Best Chinese Restaurant in America by the national Chinese Restaurant News; and Nectar (which was the food of the gods in classical mythology), the dramatic French-Asian restaurant in Berwyn.
According to Wei, a former journalism major at the University of Missouri who knows a thing or two about the power of words (as well as food), "Cooking is an art, like music. But globalization has created a desire for customers to try something new. They love mixture.
"Yangming has an Italian cook [as well as a Chinese]; Nectar has Patrick Feury [formerly of Le Cirque 2000]; and people travel more than ever and watch cooking shows," said Wei during a recent interview at CinCin.
"When I came to America in 1970," the Taiwanese native continued, "it took 26 hours to fly to the U.S. from Hong Kong; now it takes 13. I have guests who visit all of my restaurants or who have relatives or friends who live nearby, but they also come because of the distinctive cuisine available in each one.
"I have always enjoyed dining out," he said. "Food is one of the most enjoyable things in your life. And I love trying different cuisines, whether it's here or in New York City or fine restaurants around the country."
As far as CinCin goes, Wei said there would be no special celebration for the restaurant's 15th anniversary.
"I'm just fortunate to have so many wonderful guests and to have so many good people working with me, like Jim Huang, from Shanghai, my chef here, who studied at the CIA and before that worked at Yangming, and especially Henry Lee, my partner, who is originally from Malaysia, who first worked as a server at Yangming, and stayed there for five years before joining me as my partner at CinCin for the past 15 years. He is very nice with customers. They like him very much."
For his part, the soft-spoken Lee says, "I really love it when the regulars we've had from the beginning bring their adult children with them. But I'm just happy to be doing what I do."
At CinCin, that results in an extremely loyal customer base, which enjoys the restaurant's seasonal menu specials, as well as the mainstay items they've been ordering for years.
Among the latter are popular appetizers such as Steamed Crabmeat Saumai ($7.95), dumplings filled with crabmeat, fresh water chestnuts and herbs (one of Wei's personal favorites), Barbecued Spare Ribs ($8.95), and such international fare as Satay Lamb Sticks ($8.50), tender, char-grilled lamb with a Malaysian-satay barbecue sauce; Pad Thai with Jumbo Shrimp ($8.95, appetizer; $14.95, entrée), a spicy dish with basil, vegetables and crushed peanuts in a spicy squid sauce; and Spicy Rice Vermicelli Singapore Style ($11.95), with shredded chicken, snow peas, wild mushrooms, carrots and a touch of spicy curry.
The Spring Specials also have an international touch. Witness Pan-seared Tuna Sashimi & Crispy Avocado ($13.95), another spicy appetizer, served with baby greens and a ginger-cucumber-wasabi-yuzu sauce, and the Vietnamese-flavored Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Tenders ($7.95), served with basil, bean sprouts and rice noodles; and the entrées Mango Chicken Tenders ($13.95), marinated chicken pan-seared, then woked with kimchi and asparagus in a mango-tomato sauce — a Korean-style fusion dish; and Shell Fish and Calamari Combo ($17.95), a huge bowl of jumbo shrimp, scallops, little neck clams, calamari, snap peas, shiitake, basil, carrot and baby bok choy in a coconut-galangal sauce.
CinCin dishes that maintain their original Chinese-French character are the appetizer Wild Mushrooms & Goat Cheese Strudel ($9.95), served with vegetables and a confit of sautéed red onions; and the entrées Jumbo Lump Crabcakes ($20.95) served with fresh basil in a French white wine mustard sauce; and Pinot Noir Veal Escallops ($15.95), served with sun-dried tomatoes, pearl onions and sugar snap peas in a Pinot Noir sauce.
And the desserts, which include the likes of Crème Brûlée, White Chocolate Mousse and Strawberries in a Pastry Shell, have a decidedly French/European character.
But at this point in CinCin's history, guests know that whatever they order will be mouth-wateringly fine fare — including Brandy-infused Szechuan Beef ($12.95), a spicy entrée made with julienned beef with shredded celery and carrots in a brandy-infused hoisin sauce; Orange Lobster Tail & Scallops ($24.95), another spicy entrée, served with sugar snap peas in an orange peel garlic sauce; and the beautifully presented Seafood in a Flower Basket ($19.95), fresh lobster meat, jumbo shrimp, scallops and vegetables sautéed with ginger and garlic and served in an intricate noodle basket.
Guests enjoy their meal in a nicely muted décor of warm peach tones (including the linen napkins) under modern exposed wooden beams. One of the two dining rooms is separated from the bar and lounge by a richly textured etched glass window depicting a graceful fairy hovering over a goldfish pond, and the room is brightened by big windows with broad lattice-like patterns and fresh flowers at every table.
The service is polite and unhurried, even on a busy Saturday evening.
But as Michael Wei explains, so simply, "The common denominator for a good restaurant is good food and good service; ambience is in third place."
He would be pleased to know that CinCin's regulars can find all three working admirably in one of Chestnut Hill's finest restaurants.
Source: Montgomerynews.com
THE ARCHIVE
Celebrate the Chinese New Year, Jan 28 – Feb 26
This year, we celebrate theYear of the Rabbit (4709) with a Special Banquet Menu, available from January 28 until February 26. This exceptional multi-course meal is only $49 per person (plus tax and gratuities) for parties of 4 or more. Make your reservations now!
Celebrate the Chinese New Year, Feb 12 – March 20
Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and six fabulous courses,
including favorites from the celebrated James Beard Foundation banquet.
On January 21, 2010 in New York City, CinCin Chef James Huang, CinCin partners Michael Wei and Henry Lee, and other star chefs from Michael Wei’s acclaimed restaurants prepared an extraordinary Asian-Fusion banquet for James Beard Foundation members and special guests.
Several of the dishes served in New York are included in the CinCin Chinese New Year Banquet menu, which will be served from February 12 through March 20. This special banquet is just $49 per person (minimum of 4), plus tax and gratuity. To experience this extraordinary Year of the Tiger feast for yourself, please call soon to make your reservation.
To see the complete CinCin Chinese New Year Menu, please click here.
Read all about the James Beard Foundation Banquet in this abridged report by Frank D. Quattrone, from the January 27/28 issue of Montgomery Newspapers' Ticket Magazine:
‘Star Chefs’ Dinner at James Beard House
Local chef-restaurateur Michael Wei honored for second straight year.
By Frank D. Quattrone
Ticket Editor
For an unprecedented second straight year, The James Beard Foundation invited Michael Wei and his chefs to prepare a special feast at the James Beard House – the former home of one of the greatest chefs in American history. This honor is the culinary equivalent of winning back-to-back Best Actor Oscars.
I asked Wei how the second invitation came about. “The James Beard House was so happy with our dinner last year they hoped we could return. But they don’t do the same kind of dinner twice. So we chose a different winemaker and decided to do a French-Asian fusion.”
Most of the dishes came from the menus of Wei’s fine restaurants – with a little bit of tweaking to make things even more interesting. “So people can try something new,” Michael said.
According to Yangming chef Vince Viola, “Michael Wei has this incredible palate. He’s able to add subtle flavors that no one else could do.”
The other chefs who prepared the French-Asian fusion dinner are James Huang, head chef at CinCin; Lindsay Criscuolo, head pastry chef at Nectar; Patrick Feury, Wei’s partner at Nectar; Vince Viola, co-chef de cuisine at Yangming (with Mu-Yang Shen, who also serves in that capacity at Mandarin Garden). Also on hand was Henry Lee, Wei’s partner at CinCin, who also helped with the evening’s preparations, and Jeff Cichocki, Bonterra Vineyards winemaker, who worked on this year’s wine pairings.
The five course dinner was served in the famous Library room, where portraits of James Beard smiled down approvingly at the assembled guests.
The first course was Pan-seared day boat scallop on a bed of Maine Lobster Risotto, surrounded by julienne snow peas, bull’s blood microgreens and a winter mushroom ragout. It was accompanied by Bonterra Vineyards’ viognier, a fruity white wine made from organic grapes with a strong aroma of peach, honeysuckle and jasmine.
Roasted Japanese Black Cod came next, with a dill-pine nut crust, kimchi-striped bass cake and Chinese broccoli tips in a saffron pine nut chardonnay sauce. Bonterra’s characteristic green and baked apple notes pervaded the accompanying creamy chardonnay.
Patrick Feury’s Tea Smoked Squab was the third course. Served with duck foie gras and citrus sausage, roasted Kabocka Japanese pumpkin salad, spiced cashews and kumkwat, it was washed down amiably by Bonterra’s smoky, fruity merlot.
The final entree was Pan-seared Filet Mignon, served with panko-crusted golden Yukon Gold potato cake, baby zucchini, sunburst squash and wild Japanese mushrooms in a cabernet-thyme-peppercorn reduction. The accompanying wine was Bonterra’s McNab Cabernet Blend of biodynamic cabernet sauvignon, old vine petite sirrah and merlot grapes.
The meal was capped by Lindsay Criscuolo’s Valrhona White Chocolate Torte, served with yuzu curd and green tea mousse, accompanied by Bonterra’s divine Muscat, with delicate notes of hineysuckle and orange blossom.
At the end of the feast, Micheal Wei and his star chefs, as well as winemaker Cichocki, received a hearty round of applause from guests from afar and near. According to Michael Wei, “It was a beautiful marriage of East and West.” I was fortunate to be invited, and fully concur with his assessment.
Wei was further honored when world-famous Sotheby’s New York Auction House invited him to be the featured chef in its Terrace Cafe to complement an exhibition of prized classical Chinese ceramics. When Wei arrived at Sotheby’s to plan the menu, he realized that this was the prized collection of one of his special customers at Yangming.
Chinese New Year Banquet, Friday, February 1 thru Saturday, March 1
To celebrate the Chinese New Year 4706, the Year of the Rat, Cin Cin will once again "dress up" with classic and colorful decorations, and offer our very popular Gourmet Banquet – only $49.95 per person plus tax & gratuity (minimum of four). Reservations highly recommended for February 1 and other dates.
People born in the Year of the Rat tend to be charming, courageous, enterprising, resourceful and passionate. They use their keen instincts, powerful intellect and natural curiosity to take the lead and help others, and are often pioneers in their field. Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, William Shakespeare and Mozart were all born in the Year of the Rat.
