Gold medal
The restaurant chain's first encounter with the Olympics was in 2008, when it served as the official catering provider for the Olympic Village (Paralympic Village) during the 29th Olympic Games.
"This was an incredibly exciting opportunity for our team. We provided catering services for 130,000 people over 106 continuous days and nights," Wang recalls.
The high-quality food and service earned them special honors and a gold medal for "Chinese Taste, Olympic Standards".
In 2022, they served as the "Official Catering Provider for China House" and "National Team Meal Service Provider" at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Their service received high praise from Bach, who referred to the restaurant chain's chefs as "Olympic chefs", according to Wang.
For the Paris Olympics, Wang states that they were fully committed to delivering a high standard of Chinese culinary culture and exceptional taste.
Zhu Zhiwei, 46, one of the chefs who worked in Paris, says that their preparations for the trip began right after the Lunar New Year. Together with his colleagues, he coordinated with the China House setup team on kitchen layout and dining equipment details.
In May, Zhu and food safety manager Song Jing visited Paris to inspect the venue and source ingredients. "The work required is comparable to opening a new restaurant in France," Zhu says.
On July 12, the first team of 10 members flew from Beijing to Paris to start setting up equipment, purchasing ingredients, and testing recipes. Eight days later, a second team of 14 joined them.