A bite of France at Maxim's in Beijing

Selecting ingredients, cutting beef shank, and mixing the sauce for French style steak have been one of the most important tasks for Shan Chunwei for the past 30 years.

"We serve more than 10 types of steak, including filet mignon and sirloin. They are normally served with a baked potato and sliced tomatoes in French cuisine's tradition," says the 56-year-old Shan, the chief cook of China's first Maxim's.

Next door to a noisy mobile phone store and a budget clothing shop on bustling Chongwenmen West Street, Maxim's, three miles southeast of the capital's political landmark Tian'anmen Square, is where many Beijingers had their first taste of French food, long before setting foot in Paris.

"My first perspective on France came from my first dinner at Maxim's with my girl friend in 1984. I can still remember the rich flavor of snail broth and the buttery texture of foie gra," recalls Peter Zhang, an art critic in his early 60s.

"It many sound a bit exaggerated, but that's how I felt at that moment. The French cuisine piqued my curiosity and encouraged me to further explore French culture. Two years later, I found myself enjoying French food at Maxim's in Paris."

In 1983, the fashion designer Pierre Cardin, Maxim's owner, decided to open his first location in Beijing.

Maxim's in Beijing is decorated exactly like its headquarters in Paris near the Place de la Concordeon, with murals, enamel glass, and crystal ceiling lamps, notes Shan Chunwei.

As one of 13 cooks first sent to study French cuisine in France after the Cultural Revolution, Shan spent three months in Paris in 1983. Before that, his specialty was Chinese cuisine cook. He knew nothing about western food.

None of those culinary students spoke a word of French.

With the help of a translator dispatched by the Chinese government, and by observing the body language of the French cooks, Shan learned their secrets.

As he recalled, Shan studied with the French cooks in the kitchen 14 hours a day and spent his evenings back at his accommodation, behind a locked door, taking notes.

"At that time, we had to pass a political examination and sign confidentiality agreement before going abroad," Shan says.

"According to the agreement, we were required to line up even when going into the street to the kitchen." They seldom had spare time during the three months. "The roof top was the only our refuge when we were exhausted."

It is unbelievable for young people now, Shan says.

During one of the most impressive events of their stay in France, the 13 Chinese apprentices were invited by then French President Francois Mitterrand to his reviewing stand for the country's Bastille Day parade on July 14, 1983.

After Shan returned from France, Maxim's Beijing opened.

Under the bilateral agreement with the restaurant, the Chinese hold a 51 percent share of the business and the French hold 49 percent.

"In the beginning of 1980s, Beijing did not have as many restaurants serving different kinds of food as we do now," says He Guangyin, the manager of Maxim's De Paris in Beijing, "Foreigners could not find home cooking."

In those days, 70 to 80 percent of the customers were foreigners. Entertainers were also frequent guests.

The restaurant established a formal attire dress code for all customers. "If they forgot, we would rent potential customers the appropriate clothing," says the manager.

"The average bill in our restaurant was around 200 yuan," He says. "But the average monthly salary was about 40 yuan."

This was quite expensive dining for ordinary Beijing residents.

Initially the French press criticized Cardin's decision as "commercial suicide." But Maxim's survived in Beijing with the deepening implementation of China's reforms and opening up policy.

Those policies also provided more opportunities for Chinese to experience foreign culture. And the Beijing Maxim's has gradually become a top choice for a romantic meal.

Starting in the 1990s, China has been seeing inflation but the price of the dishes in Maxim's has not climbed remarkably. The median priced dishes run around 400 yuan, which is far from the prices at newly emerging high-end restaurants around Beijing.

He Guangyin noticed that domestic food sources could not meet the needs of the menu at Maxim's when it first opened, so they had to import from abroad.

Now however, Chinese suppliers are usually able to fulfill Maxim's requirements. What they import from abroad are mostly authentic seasonings.

The manager says the Maxim's Beijing has seen continuous sales growth in recent years but he refused to share concrete information.

The chief cook Shan Chunwei says the Chinese people had gradually get to know the culture and the eating habit of the western food.

"In the past 30 years, they have learned to eat steaks cooked 'medium rare, to deal with table settings that include knives and forks, the flavors of assorted dishes, and the service standards of foreign restaurants.

That informed the French restaurant not to change its strategy.

"Beijing is a cosmopolitan city, people from all over the world live here," He says. "We could not change the dishes' flavor to suit each customer. We chose to maintain the most traditional and authentic French cuisine in Beijing."

Maxim's used to train cooks from the Great Hall of the People. And its cooks will serve the 2014 APEC summit this autumn.

Despite their success, the French cuisine restaurant faces the predicament of a lack of young cooks. "Our monthly salary is only around 3,000 yuan now. People cannot afford the high expense of living in Beijing on that salary," Shan says.

"The reason I still work here stems from the deep emotional ties I have to Maxim's. I have been here through the triumphs and the problems since the restaurant opened. Young cooks won't stay here for such insignificant pay," Shan notes.

Shan is the oldest among the 30 cooks working at Maxim's. The youngest is 21. They are all Chinese.

The veteran did not plan to work for any other restaurants in Beijing although they promised better pay.

"I have known each goblet and each fork here since it opened," Shan says. "Together, Maxim's and I have witnessed the growth of the appreciation of western food in China."