A lifetime, a cuisine, a legacy

At 16, Fu Yue-Liang stepped into the kitchen—and never looked back. Born and raised in Hangzhou, he has dedicated his entire life to authentic Hangzhou cuisine (杭帮菜), the city’s own culinary tradition shaped over more than two millennia by principles of clarity, freshness, and a delicate balance between savory and natural sweetness. Few chefs embody that spirit as fully as Fu, who has become one of the most respected masters of Hangzhou cuisine.

His reputation was already established at Hubin 28, where by 2013 his name had become synonymous with refinement and authority in the genre, with recognition from international awards cementing his status as a leading figure of Hangzhou cuisine. Yet Fu is not content with repetition. His philosophy is to honour tradition while giving old dishes new life. The now-iconic “Pagoda Braised Pork Belly” is emblematic: through dazzling knife skills, a 6-centimetre slab of pork belly is sliced into a continuous 400-centimetre ribbon, just 2 millimetres thin, then shaped into a tower with bamboo shoots and steamed. The result is a dish that is at once sculptural, efficient, and deeply rooted in heritage—so compelling that it has since been widely imitated across the region.

Ru Yuan: Craft at scale
Two years ago, Fu founded Ru Yuan, a modern haven for Hangzhou dining. With a brigade of more than 40 chefs, the kitchen operates under his unique discipline: each cook is entrusted with a single dish, their daily task to perfect, review, and refine it—sometimes revisiting it every ten days. This cycle of focused mastery instills what Fu calls the “craftsman’s spirit,” ensuring that every plate that leaves the kitchen is the product of devotion as much as technique.

What distinguishes Fu is not simply his precision, but his heart. He speaks of authentic Hangzhou cuisine (杭帮菜) not as a style, but as a living inheritance. For him, cooking is not reinvention for its own sake, but a dialogue with the past—absorbing its wisdom, then finding the form that will carry it into the future.

By recognizing Fu Yue-Liang, we honour more than a chef. We celebrate a custodian of Hangzhou’s culinary identity, a craftsman who has given his whole heart to authentic Hangzhou cuisine (杭帮菜), and in doing so, secured its relevance for generations to come—much like his Pagoda Braised Pork Belly, a dish that stands tall as both tradition and innovation.

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Ru Yuan
♦ 11 Yuquan Road, Xihu, Hangzhou
♦ www.instagram.com/ruyuan_hangzhou