Chef George Chen is set to launch Asia Live at the Westfield Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara.
View pictures in App save up to 80% data.
Eight years after chef George Chen opened his massive food emporium China Live in San Francisco’s Chinatown, he’s expanding the popular brand. This fall, Chen and partner Cindy Wong-Chen will open Asia Live at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, a multi-purpose space that will highlight not just food from Greater China, but also Southeast Asia, India, Korea, and Japan. The ambitious project will be a mix of restaurant, cafe, bar, lounge, and retail offerings, spread across two stories and a rooftop.
Asia Live will take over the 12,000-square-foot space left behind by the closing of the lavish restaurant iChina, which shut down in September. It’s the first in a series of expansions that the Chens are working on; George Chen told Eater SF that deals are in the works for a New York location and an Asia Live space in Paris’s Carrousel du Louvre, the mall area below the famous Louvre Museum. “I’ve seen too many people expand too quickly, and that’s why we waited so long to do it,” Chen says. “I think [Asia Live] being in proximity to the Bay Area, I can control the quality really well and change the offerings — and create some more excitement.”
Staying true to the essence of the original China Live, the new venue's restaurant will showcase an open kitchen design, allowing guests to observe the culinary preparations up close. Familiar favorites like sheng jian bao, or pan-fried pork buns, and the renowned Peking duck pockets will be on the menu. Additionally, patrons can look forward to a broader exploration of Chef Chen's culinary journeys across Asia. This expansion will feature tandoori ovens, an Indonesian rice table, as well as dedicated stations for charcuterie, sushi, and robata grilling.
According to Chen, the China Live team sees this as an opportunity to "stretch their legs" with a fresh menu as they engage with the new venue and grow the business. "We're not aiming to cater to everyone," Chen explains, "but given my experience from [the previous restaurant] Betelnut, I believe we can pull this off successfully, and it will benefit our patrons. This is definitely not a food court."
Other familiar features of China Live will make it to the South Bay location. Namely, there will be another retail space for Asian ingredients and goods, as well as a bar with a cocktail program meant to rival Cold Drinks Bar that Chen promises to be a “mind blower.” But there are new features that should entice even the most frequent visitors of the San Francisco flagship. Paired with the retail space on the ground floor is a cafe that features grab-and-go items, such as the duck pockets, plus new offerings such as Taiwanese mango shave ice and black sesame soft serve, perfect for the warmer Santa Clara weather. A staircase will connect the shop and cafe to the restaurant area on the second floor as well as the bar, which Chen says will have views of Santana Row. But another offering that Asia Live has over its sibling emporium is the addition of a rooftop lounge, something which Chen has wanted to add to the San Francisco location but hasn’t yet, as the building has been embroiled in rent-related lawsuits over the last two years.
