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Angela Hui

Guirong Wei has been dreaming of noodles since she was six years old.
There is the satisfying stretch and biang biang slap of the dough as it is slapped against the table. Then the sizzling crescendo of hot oil as it is poured over the seasonings, filling the air with an intoxicating, fragrant aroma.
Noodle making is a process Wei has spent more than 25 years perfecting.
The chef, born in the southern part of Shaanxi province in western China, owns a mini-empire of Shaanxi cuisine restaurants across London – including Xi’an Impression, Master Wei and Dream Xi’an – and is now seeing her noodle dreams come to life.

Wei is the latest chef to star in the hit Netflix food documentary series Chef’s Table: Noodles. This season, which premiered on October 2, focuses on a single theme, as with the show’s previous explorations of pastry, barbecue and pizza.
The show highlights Wei’s mastery of Shaanxi cuisine and her expert noodle-making skills, which have been brought to life with the show’s hallmark slow-motion cinematography and dramatic score.
“[Chef’s Table producer] Brian McGinn first contacted me on Instagram. He sent multiple messages, but I didn’t reply. I thought he was a scammer,” she laughs. “Netflix is not that successful in mainland China and I didn’t know anything about the show, so I couldn’t tell you what to expect.”
Wei grew up in Bohekou, a small, rural mountain town of just 700 residents near the Qin Mountains. Growing up, she helped with chores such as cutting wheat, foraging for wild herbs and picking vegetables with her family.

From the sidelines, she would also eagerly watch her mother and grandmother in the kitchen making noodles. “My grandmother is my biggest inspiration,” she says. “Watching her make all kinds of noodles made me want to cook.”
Wei’s family struggled with poverty and they could not afford an education for all the children. So, at 13, Wei, as the eldest of three sisters, made the difficult decision to leave school and start working to support her younger sisters’ education.
She moved to Xian, the capital of Shaanxi, in search of work, determined to send any extra money back home. Driven to improve her circumstances, Wei enrolled in culinary school, where she was one of only four women in a class of nearly 1,000 men.
“The most challenging aspect is the physical strength required. Working in the kitchen demands both mental and physical endurance,” she says. “It’s a fast-paced environment that’s hard on the body, but in the end, it’s all worth it.”
Her first job in Xian was as a dishwasher at a paomo [lamb] soup restaurant. As she scrubbed dishes, she attentively and observed the rhythms of the kitchen, absorbing every detail of the service.

“I’ve spent most of my life in the kitchen and that’s where I feel most at ease,” she explains. “I’m so aware of the sounds around me – the sizzle of frying, the clash of a spatula against the wok, the roar of the fryer’s flames. It all brings me comfort. To me, it’s like music.”
For years, Wei worked her way up through the kitchen ranks. Often the only woman in a male-dominated industry, she persevered, absorbing skills and techniques like a sponge.
Her hard work paid off when her dream of managing a kitchen became a reality – she became head chef at the restaurant she worked at and eventually became the only female head chef in Xian.
In 2008, a job opportunity brought Wei to the UK to work at the famous Sichuan restaurant Barshu in central London. She arrived with no English, and no friends or family, armed only with determination and her passion for cooking, hoping to earn enough to support her family back in China.

Wei vividly recalls her first day in London, far from the glamorous image she had imagined from the Western films she had watched for research in preparation.
“It was winter and the sky was already dark and grey by 4pm. It was rainy and very cold,” she says. “As we drove into central London, the houses were old and run-down. I was anxious because it was very different from what I had imagined.”
Despite the bad weather and initial impressions, she remained undeterred. The British capital had always intrigued her. It was her first time on a plane and travelling abroad, but even in an unfamiliar environment far from home, she felt the locals’ warmth, politeness and kindness.
After seven years at Barshu, Wei’s passion for introducing Westerners to Shaanxi cuisine remained strong. She was eager to showcase the wheat-based cuisine of northern China to the people of London.

In 2015, she and her husband, fellow Xian native Song Yong, opened Xi’an Impression with the support of restaurateur Chao Zhang, a fellow Barshu alumnus.
Located opposite football club Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, the modest restaurant offered a focused Shaanxi menu featuring classics like “cold skin” liang pi noodles, potstickers or pan-fried dumplings, rou jia mo (Xian hamburgers) and hand-pulled biang biang belt noodles. Within months of opening, they had earned rave reviews from UK newspaper The Guardian and media site Time Out.
People could not get enough of their food and they were selling hundreds of bowls of noodles a day. Three years later, Wei opened her first solo restaurant, Master Wei.
In 2019, Wei won the Observer Food Monthly’s best newcomer award and the Founder’s Food Forward award at the Golden Chopsticks Awards, which recognises East and Southeast Asian cuisine across the UK.
Earlier this year, she launched her biggest venture yet – Dream Xi’an, which focuses on bread, dumplings and Xian street food.

“I want people all over the world to experience our noodles,” she says. “I want to make Xian noodles as popular as possible. I feel it’s my duty.”
Wei believes she has only just begun to explore the depths of Shaanxi cuisine. Xian, with its historical significance as the starting point of the Silk Road trade route, is a gastronomic treasure trove.
She calls it “the mother of Chinese food” thanks to its rich 2,000-year history. The region’s diverse population, with over a third being Muslim, has shaped its culinary landscape, influencing its flavours, cooking techniques – such as the invention of steaming, and the use of spices like dried red chillies and white cardamom.
In all of Wei’s restaurants, you will find a map of the Silk Road on the wall – her way of helping diners appreciate the rich history, context and culture behind Shaanxi’s cuisine.
“I feel incredibly lucky to be a chef. Not only can I do what I love, but I can share my hometown’s food with everyone,” she explains. “I haven’t raised the prices of my dishes since Covid-19 or in line with rising inflation. My core value for the restaurant is that I want everyone to be able to afford my dishes so that they can try my food.”


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Netflix Chef’s Table: Noodles star on a mission to make Xian noodles as popular as she can

Guirong Wei has made her mark on London with her Shaanxi restaurants. She is the latest chef to star in Netflix’s Chef’s Table: Noodles. Photo: Instagram/@master.wei.3150

Guirong Wei’s mastery of Shaanxi cuisine has been brought to life with the show’s hallmark slow-motion cinematography. Photo: Netflix

Wei cites her grandmother as her biggest inspiration. Photo: Netflix

A bowl of spicy hand-pulled noodles at London’s Dream Xi’an. Photo: Dream Xi’an

Wei grew up in Bohekou, a small, rural mountain town in China of just 700 residents. Photo: Netflix 

Earlier this year, Wei launched her biggest venture yet – Dream Xi’an. Photo: Guirong Wei

Dream Xi’an focuses on bread, dumplings and Xian street food. Photo: Dream Xi’an

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Roast goose with lai fun rice noodles. The thicker, neutral-tasting noodles are perfect for absorbing the flavours from the roast goose and broth. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Guirong Wei has made her mark on London with her Shaanxi restaurants. She is the latest chef to star in Netflix’s Chef’s Table: Noodles


Guirong Wei has made her mark on London with her Shaanxi restaurants. She is the latest chef to star in Netflix’s Chef’s Table: Noodles.
