Grand Sichuan: An Elegant Chain

Grand Sichuan: An Elegant Chain

The restaurants of John Zhang’s Grand Sichuan chain are like gems: each restaurant is different and beautiful, each one shines brightly in a different part of the New York City area.

The first Grand Sichuan restaurant opened in 1996 in Chinatown. Three more followed in New York City and one in Jersey City, New Jersey. The latest addition at 7th Ave. in New York opened earlier this year. Each restaurant can accommodate 60 to 70 customers. The biggest can hold about 100, and the smallest, in Manhattan, fits 40 to 50 people.

The decor in the restaurants reflects the evolution of Mr. Zhang’s vision. The first and second restaurants are Chinese style, and the newest two in New Jersey and Manhattan are American style. “Everything is Western style except the Chinese people working inside....Usually we announce the restaurant openings in the Chinese newspaper, but for these last two we did not because they are serving the American people,” Mr. Zhang said.

The Jersey City location is a great visual example of bringing Chinese food into the 21st century. The restaurant boasts a bold color scheme of reds, greens, and yellows that echoes the delightfully spicy and colorful menu. It has an ultra-modern feel with clean lines and pleasingly modular table arrangements. This trendy restaurant can accommodate parties of various sizes with cozy tables for two, four or more. While the openness of the dining space is impressive, the seating space is private. The tables are tucked into their own alcoves or against half-walls, so diners will not bump elbows or directly face neighboring diners.

In John Zhang’s blueprint, he outlines how Grand Sichuan will continue to develop in two stages. In the first stage, during the first 10 years (1996-2006), he had hoped to pursue excellent authentic Sichuan cuisines. Feeling he has accomplished this mission, the next stage is to refine the cuisine by incorporating western cooking styles into the Sichuan style. This procedure may take ten more years to perfect. “To build a really upscale Chinese restaurant and let the world have a new perspective about our Chinese restaurants are what we seek to accomplish.” said Mr. Zhang.

Mr. Zhang’s courage to be innovative has propelled Grand Sichuan to the attention of food critics and discriminating New York foodies. Drawing from his expertise and critic’s reviews, Mr. Zhang learnt that the traditional Chinese cooking style should be combined with a touch of international accent.

Mr. Zhang believes that Chinese cuisines should develop with time. But customers are as demanding as ever and not patient. Chinese food is always condemned as being greasy and unhealthy and this is partly because foreigners have little understanding of Chinese culinary art and partly because the traditional culinary style emphasizes strong spices. Mr. Zhang is trying to change these misconceptions through three initiatives: First, choose the freshest ingredients available and never use frozen ingredients. Second, do not use MSG in any dishes. Third, improve the cooking procedure. The original Chinese cuisines are all simple to prepare but with too many sauces can lose their original flavor. Now at Grand Sichuan, the chefs try to stew the beef or pork for four to five hours, and then stir fry it in the hot wok. Thus, the beef or pork is juicy and tender, and the flavor is maintained. When cooking shrimp, they first marinate it and then fry it- and while this takes more time to prepare a single dish, the dishes are healthier and tastier to the customers.

Mr. Zhang is dedicated to making more healthy creations. Even the ordinary Lo Mein has a unique flavor at Grand Sichuan. The dish is prepared by first sautéing the vegetables, then steaming the noodles, and finally combining these ingredients together. As there is little oil used, the dish won’t be as greasy. Additionally, the chefs appeal to diners who want to watch their weight by offering dishes that can served in small portion besides the normal offering in big plates. At Grand Sichuan, customers simply have more choices.

According to Mr. Zhang, Grand Sichuan started at the right place at the right time.
“When we first opened in 1996 in Chinatown, there were no Sichuan restaurants except one. Most were Cantonese, Shanghai, or American-Chinese food. We were the second to serve very spicy Sichuan food.”

Grand Sichuan may have been second when it first opened, but now it is clearly the first choice of many discerning urban diners. Take a look at Grand Sichuan’s organized and highly-interactive website/blog (thegrandsichuan.com) to read the stellar reviews the chain has earned from food critics at New York Magazine and The New York Times. Enthusiastic diners have also posted many comments to which Mr. Zhang responds personally. Dozens of rave reviews on yelp.com also place Grand Sichuan at the top of the list of Chinese restaurants in the NYC area.


House Specialties: Braised Whole Fish with Hot Bean sauce, Double-Cooked Pork, Sliced Beef with Chili Sauce, Dry and Sautéed String Beans

Grand Sichuan Facts:
Location: four locations in New York and one in Jersey City, NJ
Cuisine: Sichuan
Dining concept: authentic, upscale Sichuan cuisine
Phone: 212-645-0222
Offers: dine-in, take-out
Seats/Capacity: Varies between 40-100 depending on location
Drinks: Beer, wine, tea
Established: First location opened 1996

The Owner
When asked about the challenges he faced in operating a Chinese restaurant, Mr. Zhang said, “When Grand Sichuan first opened in 1996, for the first year, almost nobody came to our restaurant to eat, just a few Chinese, no Americans. It was the second restaurant I opened in my career. The first was in Brooklyn in 1995. It was also Sichuan food, but because I had no experience, it closed after one year.” With perseverance and patience, Mr. Zhang tried again and fine-tuned his second restaurant until he found the right customer niche.

“New York was [a] good market for us. There was not much competition. The only challenge was pursuing authentic Sichuan food. We tried to find a good Sichuan chef to cook Sichuan food,” admitted Mr. Zhang. When he first tried the Chinese food in the area, he couldn’t tolerate the spiciness; in Shanghai he did not experience much spicy food and was worried that New Yorkers wouldn’t know what Sichuan food was. “Only since The New York Times review by Ruth Reichl do people know what Sichuan food is. People are starting to become familiar with it…The media has done a great job for us.” In many ways, the media has done all the advertising his restaurant needs. “I don’t want to do much advertising, I hope that word of mouth will [make] my restaurant better known to the public,” said Mr. Zhang.

Nowadays Mr. Zhang is a busy man. He calls himself a “flying man,” traveling between his New York chain and his restaurant in Beijing. He dreams of extending Grand Sichuan into an international chain. Mr. Zhang has a real talent for connecting with customers. In his blog, he apologizes for being so busy that his old customers may not see him at their favorite Grand Sichuan locations as often as they used to.
He takes the time to infuse his blogs with a personal touch, responding to customers’ postings with interesting discussions of cooking techniques, recommendations, and even invitations to sample some items on the house.

In Focus
“For the last 10 years we have sold authentic Sichuan food. Our most famous or popular dishes are braised whole fish with hot bean sauce, double-cooked pork, sliced beef with chili sauce, and dry and sautéed string beans. For [the] last 10 years these foods have been recognized and loved by New Yorkers. More than 10 years ago, very few people knew about these dishes. Now everybody knows about these dishes,” Mr. Zhang said.

Even though the offerings at Grand Sichuan are very popular, they are far from ordinary. Take a look at the easy-to-read menus on the website. Customers can sample traditional ma la (chili and peppercorn-based spiciness) dishes to “Mao Jia Cai”(Mao’s favorite home-cooked dishes). Mr. Zhang takes the time to explain the background and development of his cuisine. He turns dining out into a cultural as well as a gustatory adventure.

For example, check out the detailed dish descriptions for the St. Mark location. The first one is “Chicken and Loofah soup: well-marinated threaded chicken and sliced fresh loofah in a clear chicken broth. Loofah (sponge gourd) is one kind of green vegetable loved by Chinese. Its shape is similar to the cucumber and surface is not smooth, and it is very soft or tender.” Some descriptions even tell the folk story of the dish’s origin.

Message from the Owner:
“The secret is serving new kinds of food and getting publicity from the media. If you can do those things, you will be a success.”