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.

CHINA AND FOOD:

- Tracking down the last hand-made woks in Shanghai

- On eating hairy crabs in fall

- Country soul in downtown Shanghai

- Out in Koreatown

- An Ageing Rocker Turns to Sichuan Noodles

- Noodles at a Suzhou temple

- California Sunday Magazine: Gao's Map

 NOT FOOD OR NOT CHINA:

- Chasing a famous architect in a free Aston Martin: Wang Shu (PDF)

- Turkey's culinary capital, Gaziantep (PDF)

- A Tour of an MSG Factory and a Delightful Encounter with Its Billionaire Founder

- Lights, Camera, Action: Behind the Scenes at Ultraviolet

- [How to]: Eat Xiaolongbao Like a Scientist

- Meeting Tao Qingjian, The Last Woksmith

Articles

- Behind 'The Shanghai Soup Dumpling Index'

- The Shanghai Soup Dumpling Index FAQs

- China's Revolutionary Fruit

- The Magic of Lanzhou Hand-Pulled Noodles

- So You Want to Make Xinjiang Haggis

- The Peacock Chef of China

Atlases

- Shanghai Gu Yi Garden Restaurant

- Zun Ke Lai

- Lin Long Fang

- Xiao Jin Ling Yan Shui Ya Dian

- Xin Guang Jiu Jia

- Zheng Yuan Hui Mian

- Xinyuan

- Jia Jia Tang Bao

- Old Jesse

- Rui Fu Yuan

- Uighur Restaurant

- Xibei Oat Noodle Village

- Jianguo 328

- Northern Courtyard Restaurant

- Fu 1088

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.

I am based in Shanghai.

Phone: (+86) 139 1832 4475

Email: contact[at]stcavish.com

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