The food of China’s Hunan province is little known in the UK. There are only a handful of specialist Hunanese restaurants, and dishes from the south-central region rarely appear on the menus of other Chinese operators, with the possible exception of Mao’s red-braised pork.
Winston Xu is looking to change that with Fiery Flavors. Launched in 2024 in Surrey Quays, the restaurant specialises in the chilli-laden cuisine for which the region is famed. Key dishes include pounded fresh chilli with preserved duck eggs; stir-fried cured beef with white chilli; steamed fish head with fresh chopped chilli; and Changsha stinky tofu.
Xu has an unusual background for a Chinese restaurateur, having cut his teeth at major brands including Pizza Express and Burger King. He also has significant experience in introducing lesser-known Chinese cuisines to the UK market, having played a key role in bringing hotpot giant Haidilao to London and, more recently, rebooting Shao Wei’s famed Soho Sichuan restaurant Bar Shu.
We spoke to Xu about the challenges of introducing lesser-known Chinese cuisines to the UK, the sector’s intensifying staffing crisis, and why his next project is unlikely to be a full-service Chinese restaurant.
Surrey Quays is not an obvious location for a restaurant serving a style of Chinese cuisine most people won’t be familiar with. Why here?
This is my first solo restaurant project, so I don’t have much financial clout. The rent is relatively reasonable for a high-footfall street, and the area is very well connected, with both Overground and Underground links. It’s still underdeveloped for somewhere so central, but there are plans for several major developments in and around the area. What would really help is having more good restaurants nearby. We’re a bit isolated in that sense.
Why Hunanese food?
Partly because my business partner chef Zhou Jianren – an alumnus of Bar Shu – is from Hunan, but also because I genuinely believe the cuisine has huge potential. Sichuan food is everywhere now, and there are a lot of similarities between Sichuan and Hunan cuisine. The key difference is that Sichuan uses both chillies and Sichuan peppercorns, whereas Hunan cuisine is all about chilli heat. It’s much better known in China, where it’s recognised as one of the Eight Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine. There are a few Hunan restaurants in London, but none that are particularly high-profile. (Pimlico fine-dining restaurant Hunan is named after the province but doesn’t serve traditional Hunanese food). We get a lot of Chinese customers seeking us out from all over London, especially students.
Do you make any concessions for Western diners?
Yes. The food is less spicy than it would be in China. We also offer a range of familiar dishes that aren’t Hunanese, including roast duck, a selection of dim sum, and other items commonly found in Anglo-Cantonese restaurants. Our biggest strength is that we can appeal to multiple audiences: Chinese diners, adventurous Western foodies, and less adventurous local customers. We’ve had a couple of great reviews, including one from Jay Rayner in the Financial Times, which has made a big difference.
Tell us about your background
I’m originally from Henan, which can be confusing given that I now run a Hunanese restaurant. Henan means ‘south of the river’, while Hunan means ‘south of the lake’. I came to the UK in the early 2000s to study economics, completing my undergraduate degree in Northampton and my postgraduate studies in Dundee. The Chinese food in Dundee wasn’t very good, so I had to cook for myself. I grew up around restaurants in China – my grandmother ran a very busy noodle restaurant next to a train station. Like many families, the previous generation wanted their children to become architects, lawyers or doctors. They also understood how tough the hospitality industry can be. But I ended up in hospitality almost immediately after arriving in the UK, working at Pizza Express. I loved it and learned a lot, particularly about UK customers and staff management. They were good employers.
What did you do after your studies?
I joined Burger King as a manager. I wanted to progress quickly and better understand restaurant systems. Everything is highly standardised at a brand like that. I opened several new sites and eventually became an area manager. I stayed for nine years before getting the opportunity to help bring Haidilao to the UK, opening its first site in Holborn. I had met the chairman of the group internationally and became a shareholder. I was involved in everything: site search, fit-out, sourcing equipment and ingredients from China, and training in China to understand the operation. We opened in summer 2019, but then the pandemic hit, which changed everything. I eventually moved on to work with Shao Wei.
How did that come about?
Shao Wei was a customer at Haidilao and asked me to help turn Bar Shu around as managing director. Despite being one of Chinatown’s best-known restaurants, it was very quiet. Over three years, we tripled sales by becoming more customer centric. We were more flexible and generous, and we made sure we didn’t close the door on any customer groups, including local residents and students. We also increased PR and marketing activity, carried out a refit, and worked with the chefs to rethink the menu. Chinese chefs can be difficult to work with. Individually they’re often fine, but as a team the kitchen can develop a mentality that makes interaction hard. There’s often a big divide between front and back of house – like oil and water. They focus on speed and efficiency, getting in and out as quickly as possible.
How did you get them to change their approach?
You have to handle that carefully, understand their goals, their families, and their daily lives. You need to build trust and genuine relationships. I didn’t grow up in a UK Chinese restaurant, so there are things I don’t know, but I do understand how to bring people together and get them working as a team. Because I’m from mainland China, I speak Mandarin rather than Cantonese, which made things harder, as Cantonese was the dominant kitchen language. I also opened Dot Line Noodle as a more casual concept for the group. The business performed well, but the decision was taken to sell. I was disappointed by that, so I moved on in 2024.
What’s next for you?
Fiery Flavors is going well, but running a restaurant like this is expensive. We need a lot of skilled chefs in the kitchen to deliver this type of food. My next project will be simpler, with a lower cost base. I want to find a different way of presenting authentic Chinese food. There’s also a bigger issue coming: there simply won’t be enough people who can cook this food. Young Chinese people don’t want to become chefs. It’s not like Western restaurants with Michelin stars – the next generation isn’t interested. We’re already in a situation where master chefs have no one to train. People aren’t knocking on restaurant doors asking to learn. In 10 years’ time, many of these masters will have retired. I either need to find simpler concepts – or persuade my kids to do it.