New song at aria

Kingfish tea is brewed with confit tomato, shiitake mushrooms, asparagus and turnips. Provided to China Daily

A young Australian chef returns to a Beijing hotel, eager to share the best of two worlds, Ye Jun reports.

Fresh tasting scallops come with abalone, Iberico ham, truffle, hazelnut and dehydrated cauliflower. Seared foie gras is matched with sour and sweet cherry, raspberry, crisp wild rice, honeycomb, dark chocolate and brioche.

Natural, tasty and sophisticated. That's how Phillip Taylor, Aria's 28-year-old new chef, designs his food.

At a recent media tasting, pairings are generally innovative and well thought out. Very nice and tender lamb loin and braised lamb shoulder, for example, are served with carrots, pistachio crumble and kale.

Aria at China World Hotel Beijing is considered a "contemporary European" style restaurant. Taylor thinks that means cooking with inspiration, evolving dishes constantly, offering seasonal foods and using techniques that enhance the flavor and texture of ingredients - especially the local ones he likes to find.

"I can get mushrooms from France, dried or frozen," he says. "But it is better to use fresh ones from Yunnan."

Recently he found custard apple, a sweet tropical fruit resembling litchi, in Beijing's market. The chef plans to use it in a coconut sago pudding along with white peach, all of which are just coming into season.

Previously he has imported pork from Australia, but he's found that black pig in China is of good quality at a cheaper price.

He had thought he wouldn't get fresh seafood like he was used to in coastal Australia. But with water tanks to keep live seafood at hand, he can offer lobster, turbot fish and crabs.

It is not the first time the young Australian has worked in Beijing. Three years ago, Taylor worked at the same restaurant as junior sous chef with chef de cuisine Matthew McCool.

In his eight years as a professional, he has worked in Australia, Europe and Asia. He came to work in Beijing in 2010, he explains, because his wife, a Beijinger, missed her family.

"I came back to Beijing because I love living here. Every day is exciting; it has amazing culture, friendly locals and plenty of new ingredients for me to discover," he says.

In between his stints in the capital, he spent a year and a half working in two Michelin-starred restaurants in London. At Pied a Terre, a two-Michelin-star restaurant, he made all the sauces and prepared meats. After a year he went to Galvin at Windows, a one-Michelin-star eatery, as a senior sous chef.

The young chef then moved on to the Shangril-La in Sydney to work with McCool again for nine months, before he returned to Beijing three months ago to take the position of chef de cuisine at Aria.

Taylor says the kitchen, which has strict levels of hierarchy, is sometimes similar to an army.

"Every level is different, and has a challenge," he reveals.

He says he likes being chef de cuisine, because "it gives me the most freedom to be creative".

The chef now takes care of 15 people in the kitchen at Aria, including himself.

"You have to make sure they are happy, but also work hard," he says. "If somebody doesn't like what they do, one can always see it on the plate."

Taylor's father is Australian, and his mother is Chinese. When he was young, he had congee and red-bean buns for breakfast. He was not afraid to try chicken feet and pork blood.

"As a child I ate Chinese food. My palate is open to different things," he says.

But the chef wants to make sure he offers "honest Western food" at Aria, because he thinks that's what brings customers to the restaurant.

On the other hand, half of Aria's customers are Chinese people, who prefer their consomme not so salty, and who are very health-conscious.

Moreover, he needs to put out a much bigger menu in China than in Australia, with a broad price range from the widely affordable to the luxurious.

Aria offers beef, for example, priced from 300 to 1,150 yuan ($48-185).

"The main thing is that, for every dish, customers get what they paid for. No matter what they order, we cook it in the same way. The difference only comes from the meat."

Taylor has prepared two tasting menus - one for the typical customer, another for the "epicurious".

"It is a menu for those people who are knowledgeable about good food. They will still find a lot of things they've not tried before," he says.

He recommends Shiro Kin tenderloin, the best beef from Australia, or tajima wagyu tenderloin, another high-quality option. He also hopes customers can try foie gras imported from France as a starter, and strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

If one eats these menu items, "I believe you could never leave unsatisfied," he says.