Noah’s Kitchen cooks up authentic flavours
Lee Baifeng has never eaten a chicken ball in his homeland China. It’s a record he’s maintained since opening Noah’s Kitchen, his restaurant and homage to “a Chinese mama’s cooking.”
Noah’s Kitchen, named after Lee’s seven-year-old son, features the northern Chinese cuisine that Lee grew up with. At Noah’s Kitchen Lee serves authentic dishes such as handmade dumplings, stewed chicken with spicy sauce, traditional Chinese crepes, shrimp cakes, and deep-fried chicken bones. You won’t find chicken ball — an icon of North Americanized-Chinese food — among them. “Basically every dish we serve here at Noah’s Kitchen is something I like,” Lee says. “I put it on the menu because I think others will like it, too.”
Lee would know! Prior to opening Noah’s Kitchen in St. Catharines’ south end last year, he worked as a controller for a steakhouse chain. That gave Lee the savvy to run a restaurant, but it was his family’s love of food and feeding others that inspired him to open Noah’s Kitchen.
For years his mother whom he affectionately calls Mama Song, made and sold Chinese dumplings to students out of her home and Lee is just as comfortable in the kitchen. “I like cooking and food is my passion,” he says. “When you run a restaurant, you not only have to be here, but you have to love it. My family wants to introduce locals to authentic Chinese food.” Chances are that whatever you order from the menu, including Chinese street food, such as traditional Chinese crepes or sandwiches, was hand made by either Lee or Mama Song. “Everything we serve here we make from scratch,” he stresses. “It’s for people to taste, experience and enjoy traditional Chinese cuisine.”
Regulars have their favorites, but Lee recommends the spicy shredded pork with vegetables and dry-fried green beans with ground pork for first-time visitors. There are also a few surprises that aren’t on the menu. Noah’s Kitchen is a destination for veal Parmesan, and even moussaka with Lee adding his own touches to the traditional Mediterranean dishes. Regulars who come from far and wide to eat the “moussaka” are treated to a concoction of stir-fried beef and deepfried potatoes layered on top. Lee dresses it all with cheese and cucumber, a common vegetable in Chinese cooking. When tasked with an order of veal Parmesan, he stir-fries noodles and coats them with a red sauce made with Chinese ingredients. The veal itself is stacked three layers high starting with a breaded, deepfried cutlet blanketed with sauce, and a mix of feta and Parmesan cheeses. This is then topped with breaded, deep-fried eggplant, sauce and cheese, and capped with another layer of veal. It’s finished with more sauce and a fetaParm blend. Noah’s Kitchen also features “Wagyu Beef ” dishes, the meat from Wagyu cattle is known worldwide for its marbling characteristics and naturally enhanced, flavor, tenderness, and juiciness, Wagyu takes steak to another level, and Lee is in the process of developing a larger selection of items featuring the coveted Japanese beef cuts.
The interior of Noah’s Kitchen is a nod to Lee’s creativity and desire to create a memorable dining experience. The restaurant is a modern space made bright and airy with high ceilings, and a white, blue and black palette to create a comfortable ambiance and setting. A sprawling bar is the perfect place to go for a pint of Niagara Oast House Barn Raiser while snacking on dumplings or deep-fried chicken bones. Comfy booths feature 4K ultra high definition televisions that are stand-ins for windows by featuring peaceful mountain and ocean scenery, these present windows to worldwide destinations.
“We wanted to be a unique family run restaurant,” Lee says. “We wanted a modern, sleek and welcoming design. The little details are key, I want to make sure everyone is happy.” I am sure that if you experience the food, ambiance and warmth of Noah’s Kitchen, you will be a regular!
Noah’s Kitchen is located at 343 Glendale Ave., St. Catharines, or visit noahskitchen.ca to learn more. This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of Noah’s Kitchen.