Premier Hospitality

Lu Ban Cains Brewery Village Liverpool

Lu Ban
Written by Roma Publications

Lu Ban

Recently opened, Lu Ban is a Chinese restaurant in the Cains Brewery Village in Liverpool.

Drawing on the famed Chinese Culinary Arts from the Tianjin region of China, the restaurant is the first in the UK to carry the Lu Ban name. Aside from its commercial ambitions, it is also a venue for training the next generation of Chinese Culinary Arts chefs.

The inspiration behind Lu Ban

Mike Mounfield, Operations Director of Lu Ban told PREMIER HOSPITALITY MAGAZINE the origin story behind Lu Ban. He said:   “Lu Ban was a master carpenter and renowned inventor, who lived in the 5th century BC. His inventions including the saw, the grappling hook, and what we now call the kite, which he described as ‘a bird that stays in the air if tethered’. His wife also invented the umbrella. Lu Ban’s philosophy was that whatever you do you should do to the best of your ability.

“In China today, Lu Ban is revered as a master craftsman in carpentry and construction, and a modern-day inspiration for expertise and creativity. The restaurant takes its name from Lu Ban to represent these qualities.

“The restaurant is linked to the Lu Ban Association here in the UK, and inspired by the global Lu Ban Workshop, which is a scheme created to build expertise and to drive employment around the world.”

Lu Ban’s origins

Before the idea of the restaurant was born, there was a major emphasis on establishing Chinese Culinary Arts in the UK and a new generation of chefs skilled in the finest skills of serving authentic Chinese food. This is driven by the Tianjin School of Commerce and Tianjin Food Group and co-ordinated by UK-based PAM Education. Tianjin Food Group feed 80% of the population of Tianjin in China, which is approximately 18 million. They operate and manage fish farms, poultry, pork, agricultural, noodles, condiments, and steamed bun businesses, as well as labs within their premises to carry out research on their food and future products.  It was via this path that would see Mike, along with David Hughes, (the Lu Ban Commercial Director), involved in overseeing the £2.2m restaurant.

Mike explained: “PAM Education created a UK qualification for a Chinese Culinary Arts diploma, which was launched in 2018.

“I got involved as some of the recipes and handouts that had been translated from Chinese to English had lost the culinary terminology in translation and my background is of a chef. I worked on that project, ensuring training videos and recipes could be understood in English.

“Then around September last year, PAM Education contacted me and asked if I’d like to consider setting up a restaurant with a training centre within the business. The answer was ‘yes’.”

In November 2018, delegates from the Tianjin Food Group and School of Commerce looked at sites in Liverpool with Mike and settled on Cains Brewery. Two months later, a UK delegation went to China to present the concept of creating a restaurant.

The conclusion was that, first and foremost, Lu Ban would be a commercial restaurant, and the training would be interwoven into all aspects of it. Then Tianjin Food Group agreed to sign off £2.2 million in for the project to commence.

Lu Ban has created partnerships furthering and supporting the education they’re offering.  Wine education is with renowned author, Janet Wang, who will also lead the wine school within the restaurant. Ching-He Huang, Chinese Food Writer, will provide scholarships to Lu Ban’s trainee chefs. Ching is famous for her cookery books, TV appearances and vast knowledge of Chinese cuisine. The trainees will benefit from being trained by Lu Ban Executive Head chef Dave Critcheley, the Chinese Master Chefs, and Ching.

Restaurant Concept

“The aim was to create a restaurant that if you walked into it and were told you were in Tianjin you could relate to Tianjin from the interior,” Mike said.

“The types of lighting, artwork, colour schemes and finishes, all reflect Tianjin. This is the very essence of the restaurant and part of the dining experience. I’ve been to China three times, visited their restaurants and spent time in Tianjin. I visited tea rooms, bars, high-end restaurants and lesser known ones to embrace the city’s own culture, and these inspired Lu Ban.

“The other key aspect is the food and it being a true reflection of Tianjin. Lu Ban Restaurant isn’t a ‘traditional’ Chinese restaurant. It is about regional specialities from one of the finest regions for cuisine in China. Tianjin is world renown for the quality of the food, and this is what we are replicating here both in terms of taste and style.”

The experiences of China combined with the industrial heritage of Cains Brewery have been instrumental in the design and concept, and it was an important element of the brief that these two intertwined in the look and feel.

Design

Angie Rawson, Lead Designer of Lu Ban, explained Lu Ban’s design:

“As well as bringing in the Tianjin experience concept, we needed to be sympathetic to the architecture of the building. In the main restaurant and bar we have quite an industrial feel, with exposed columns and exposed ceiling work and we’ve exposed some of the existing brick work. We’ve designed the restaurant to be one you want to sit in, that’s comfortable, and interesting. Therefore every space is different, but it’s all open and inviting. In addition, we’ve incorporated some traditional Chinese pieces and artwork which are offset against modern pieces.

“The four private dining all have their own personality. The food lab is more of an experimental space. It looks and feels like a lab, and chefs can do their dish development and trainees can be trained in there. Guests can have a dining experience within there, influenced by the lab.”

To book your table at Lu Ban, visit: https://lubanrestaurant.co.uk/

To find out more PAM Education and the Lu Ban initiative, visit: http://pameducation.co.uk/cca/

Lu Ban

Vision Commercial Kitchens

Vision Commercial Kitchens are one of the UK’s leading commercial kitchen design houses and distributors, specialising in delivering commercial kitchens from design through to installation and after sales service.

Vision was established in 2002 and has worked with many high-profile clients in the time since, creating excellent relationships and an excellent reputation with major companies across the whole industry.

Vision are extremely proud to have worked with Lu Ban in the creation of their restaurant. The project began with an empty canvas in an existing, prestigious building in Liverpool. From there, working closely with Mike Mounfield, we developed the design of all foodservice areas: the dining area, food lab, bar and main kitchen.

Lu Ban offers authentic food, prepared using traditional Chinese methods, therefore equipment had to be specifically selected. We worked with a specialised Chinese importer for the specified induction wok range which was designed into the bespoke cooking island. We also worked with a number of specially selected suppliers including Control Induction for the bespoke cooking island, Inox for the bespoke extraction, Counterline for bespoke fabrication, Storer Refrigeration and Rational.

Andrew Burns, Key Account Manager for the project, said: “We are extremely pleased to be working on such a prestigious project at Lu Ban. It has been a challenging project involving a very carefully considered design which will give the restaurant a kitchen capable of producing their exceptional menu.”

Lu Ban

About the author

Roma Publications