{"id":37516,"date":"2016-03-15T12:46:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T17:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=37516"},"modified":"2016-03-15T12:46:17","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T17:46:17","slug":"imperial-lamian-traditional-chinese-food-in-a-modern-hip-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/imperial-lamian-traditional-chinese-food-in-a-modern-hip-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Imperial Lamian: traditional Chinese food in a “modern, hip space”"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ya Zhou<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chicagoans can dine on authentic and modern Chinese cuisine at Imperial Lamian\u2018s first U.S. location in the heart of Chicago\u2019s bustling River North neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The restaurant takes its name from lamian, a traditional Chinese food with a history dating back to the 16th Century. The process of making lamian involves taking a lump of dough and repeatedly stretching it to produce many strands of thin, long noodles. La means “to pull,” and mian means “noodles.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell my staff members that we are here not to serve the guest–we are here to educate the guest and show them what Chinese cuisine is all about,\u201d said Imperial Lamian’s CEO Vincent Lawrence.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The new Chicago restaurant is the first American location of a family-owned business based in Indonesia for over a decade. Imperial Lamian has over 30 restaurants specializing in modern Chinese cuisine, including Xiao Long Bao, which are soup dumplings, and Wok dishes, cooked in the traditional Chinese wok.<\/p>\n

Imperial Lamian in Chicago is currently open only for dinner. After studying and working in the United States , Lawrence and his partner started rebranding and launched the Chicago project two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, we are the only restaurant that features the actual pulling of noodles,\u201d said Lawrence. \u201cWe make the noodles fresh by hand. The texture is very authentic, so it holds the flavor of the broth really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imperial Lamian\u2019s Chicago location has three executive chefs:\u00a0Chef Wang Hongjun\u00a0focuses on fresh, hand-pulled lamian noodles, Chef Lim Kee Tiong\u00a0specializes in dim sum and xiao long bao, and Chef Kok Lam Andy Foo oversees both traditional and new, inventive wok dishes.<\/p>\n

\u201cChicago has a big void in authentic Chinese food, especially in a restaurant with a modern environment and\u00a0 high-level service. Imperial Lamian fills that void, offering really authentic Chinese food outside of Chinatown,\u201d said Lawrence.<\/p>\n

\"Lamian\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The foyer. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"BirdCage\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Birdcage up the foyer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Screen\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The Oriental screen. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Bar\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The bar area. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

As guests enter Imperial Lamian, they see an elaborate foyer with hand-made Oriental screens and birdcage pendant lights\u2014a nod to the story of the Chinese bringing their birds with them when dining out.<\/p>\n

Right next to the screen, the bar area features a backdrop of rustic brass Chinese medicine boxes and a 15-foot bright, colorful mural.<\/p>\n

All the dishes are made fresh to order in the open kitchen–including the hand-stretched noodles.<\/p>\n

The restaurant seats 150 and features two private dining areas, including a private dining room for 30 and a semi-private space that fits 40.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have a certain mindset when it comes to Chinese food, but our service, food, ambiance and music really set us apart from other competitors,\u201d said Lawrence. \u201cWe want to provide a great dining experience, serving authentic dishes in a modern, hip space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: A chef carries a plate of xiao long bao to the big steamer in Imperial Lamian’s open kitchen. (Ya Zhou\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ya Zhou Chicagoans can dine on authentic and modern Chinese cuisine at Imperial Lamian\u2018s first U.S. location in the heart of Chicago\u2019s bustling River North neighborhood. The restaurant takes its name from lamian, a traditional Chinese food with a history dating back to the 16th Century. The process of making lamian involves taking a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":37610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,585],"tags":[2322],"class_list":["post-37516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-winter-2016","tag-chinese-food"],"yoast_head":"\nImperial Lamian: traditional Chinese food in a "modern, hip space" - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/imperial-lamian-traditional-chinese-food-in-a-modern-hip-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imperial Lamian: traditional Chinese food in a "modern, hip space" - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ya Zhou Chicagoans can dine on authentic and modern Chinese cuisine at Imperial Lamian\u2018s first U.S. location in the heart of Chicago\u2019s bustling River North neighborhood. 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