CHRISTOPHER ST. CAVISH, writer, food
A decade of professional cooking in the US; several years of writing & editing in China.
BIOGRAPHY
I've been working in and around the food industry for close to 20 years. I spent the first decade in restaurant kitchens, going from dishwasher to sous chef at fine dining places. Miami, New York, Shanghai. In 2007, I started writing instead. Better hours, bigger picture. Full-time for several years.
My primary interest is food in China - the culture around it, the technical processes behind it and the stories within it. China has a remarkable food culture. Not nearly enough of that comes across in English. That's what I'm trying to do. My food background and outsider perspective help. I spent a while chasing the latest and greatest in Shanghai. These days, I'm much more interested in going in-depth on the old topics.
I do a few other things. More details under that section. I shoot most of my own photos.
I speak and read Chinese, some days better than others. I've lived in Shanghai since 2005.
ARTICLES
CHINA AND FOOD:
- Tracking down the last hand-made woks in Shanghai
- On eating hairy crabs in fall
- Country soul in downtown Shanghai
- An Ageing Rocker Turns to Sichuan Noodles
- California Sunday Magazine: Gao's Map
NOT FOOD OR NOT CHINA:
- Chasing a famous architect in a free Aston Martin: Wang Shu (PDF)
RECENT STUFF
LUCKY PEACH
Articles
- Behind 'The Shanghai Soup Dumpling Index'
- The Shanghai Soup Dumpling Index FAQs
- The Magic of Lanzhou Hand-Pulled Noodles
- So You Want to Make Xinjiang Haggis
Atlases
- Shanghai Gu Yi Garden Restaurant
- Xiao Jin Ling Yan Shui Ya Dian
- Xinyuan
- Northern Courtyard Restaurant
- Fu 1088
OTHER THINGS
I do other things too.
I've been a fixer for a bunch of international journalists, western chefs and corporate food groups over the years. Need help with an itinerary, story ideas, fact-checking, making connections in Shanghai's food industry or context for what you're seeing and eating? I enjoy doing this. Contact me.
I lead the occasional food culture tour for Context Travel. (www.contexttravel.com) These are walking tours that use a big market as a jumping off point to talk about food culture in Shanghai - and a whole bunch of other stuff. I only do these tours through Context. Contact them.
I copy-edit for the China offices of two large multinational companies on a daily basis.
CONTACT
Calculations are complete. The Shanghai Soup Dumpling Index has launched. See more here.