THE first morning Jean-Georges Vongerichten came to Shanghai at the start of his regular two-monthly inspection of his newly opened restaurant, Jean Georges Shanghai, he went to the local market to check on the availability of the freshest ingredients for his chefs.

Jean Georges Shanghai, which opened on the Bund last April, is the second restaurant in the world to carry Vongerrichten's name. The well-known chef from France who is also one of the leading chefs in the US, has another Jean Georges Restaurant in New York.

Wide recognition

He has won the praise of food writers and critics in leading American publications as a "formidably gifted" and "resident genius" chef. All his restaurants, such as Jo Jo and Vong, have received three- or four-star reviews in the media including "The New York Times".

His major Shanghai venture, located in one of the historical buildings along the Bund, has seen Vongerichten's devotion and creativity not only in the menu but also in the details of the decor, lighting and even the music, which he mixed according to his own recipe.

Vongerichten said the menu in Jean Georges Shanghai was quite similar to that in New York and the chef de cuisine, Eric Johnson, has worked with him for about eight years. But the recipe for each course and even its presentation have to be approved by Vongerichten to make sure it's in Jean Georges' style.

"I never put a dish on a menu for my customers if I have not tasted it myself," he said.

He said many chefs didn't necessarily eat what they cooked themselves, but he did, to make sure he knew if anything was wrong or missing.

Having been in the trade for 31 years, Vongerichten said the secret to being a good chef was always to be passionate about food.

Man of taste

His love for cooking began early in his life and his earliest family memories were about food. Born and raised in Alsace in eastern France, young Vongerichten woke up every morning to the smell of the food being cooked by his mother and grandmother for the 50 employees in their family-owned business. He then became the family's "palate", helping to taste each sauce and dish or to recommend salt or more herbs for the dishes.

He finally chose his life-long career of cooking after celebrating his 16th birthday in a three-star restaurant. He started his apprenticeship in the same restaurant learning from the renowned chefs who had helped prepare his birthday party.

It took him about 10 years to finish his initial studies and become a "real" chef.

"In fact, you have to be apprenticed all your life and I'm still learning. There are so many cuisines and combinations in the world. It's endless," Vongerichten said.

His later eight-year experience in Asia has made his cooking style more diversified. He worked in many Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Singapore and Japan.

His travelling experiences and the Asian elements he has absorbed have helped make his innovative cooking style stand out in the New York dining scene.

The moment Vongerichten arrived in New York in 1986 was the era of change in dining styles in the city. It was a time when many novel restaurants were appearing and competing with the more classic-style restaurants.

"Timing in life is very important and I was part of that change," he said.

The ideal place

New York was the right stage for Vongerichten to present his creative cuisine with added ingredients that would never be accepted by more traditional chefs, creating new flavours and new combinations.

"New York people are very open-minded about food, unlike some French people who will only eat classic French food."

Vongerichten said people like his mother, who have never been anywhere outside the town where they live, hated his cooking. He joked that was why he escaped from his own country.

With changing lifestyles in the big cities, people have become fond of much lighter food, which coincides with Vongerichten's philosophy - "The French cuisine at Jean Georges is very light and uses mainly locally grown organic produce and the freshest seafood."

He explained the reasoning behind the approach: "In the old days, because of the inconvenience and difficulty of transport, the fish and meat used in restaurants were not very fresh and people used to make heavy sauces to cover this up."

Though he has owned a total of 16 restaurants all around the world and he has a lot of administrative and organizational work to do, his biggest interest is still in the kitchen.

"I spend six hours cooking every day, mostly in my Jean Georges in New York," he said.

As a celebrated chef, Vongerichten said French cuisine was not his personal favourite style. Instead, he likes Thai food best, followed by Chinese food.

He opened the Vong restaurant to pay homage to the spices and flavours of the East, along with 66, an upscale Chinese restaurant.

"I'm still learning about Chinese cuisines and in my Chinese restaurant, 60 per cent is Chinese and 40 per cent is me - that is, my understanding of the cuisine," Vongterichten said.