The Gaia Hotel\'s Sichuan-Hunan Cuisine Arrives in Dazhi: Qiyan No. 1 Flagship at Marriott Taipei

Most people associate Beitou with "hot springs," but recently many food connoisseurs and celebrities visit Beitou for the "fish head"! The Gaia Hotel\'s new-style Sichuan-Hunan restaurant "Qiyan No. 1" draws a steady stream of customers year-round, with "Chopped Chili Fish Head" and "Rice-Scented Gaia Beef" as must-order favorites. The culinary mastermind behind it is Executive Chef Li Chao-Ming, with 30 years of experience, who inherited the essence of Sichuan-Hunan cuisine and incorporated local ingredients to create new-style dishes, winning gold at the 8th Chinese Culinary World Competition in the Netherlands in 2016. The Gaia Hotel\'s Chairwoman Wang Hsueh-Mei, grateful for her team\'s achievements, invested NT$40 million to open an off-site restaurant despite the economic downturn, making it the first hot spring hotel to expand beyond Beitou through cuisine.

To bring new-style Sichuan-Hunan cuisine to more people, Chef Li Chao-Ming and his longtime partner Chef Tsai Chen-Jung ("Master A-Jung") jointly created the "Qiyan No. 1" flagship restaurant on the 2nd floor of Taipei Marriott Hotel\'s Midtown Complex. Continuing the gold medal cuisine that fuses local ingredients with Sichuan-Hunan flavors, they developed the all-new "Tianfu Duck Hot Pot," combining "maocai" (Sichuan street food) flavors with locally sourced Yilan Sanxing cherry duck, incorporating Sichuan cuisine\'s essential numbing, spicy, fresh, and aromatic elements. The chefs use bell peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, homemade chili oil, and exclusive mala sauce with premium broth and duck essence for the base, adding duck blood, fresh mushrooms, seasonal vegetables, tofu, bean sprouts, fried dough sticks, and other ingredients to create a rich, layered mala experience. The duck is premium 28-day-old Yilan Sanxing cherry duck, marinated with various Chinese herbs and spices for 12 hours, steamed 40 minutes to infuse flavors, then deep-fried for crispy golden skin. The whole duck is presented tableside, where the chef cuts it into pieces and cooks them in the maocai pot, perfectly infusing the mala broth into the tender duck meat.

The restaurant begins soft opening on August 25. Through September 30, diners enjoy a 10% soft-opening discount. Join The Gaia Hotel\'s LINE account and receive a complimentary chef\'s appetizer. Reservations: 02-8501-1380, or visit http://www.thegaiahotel.com.

The Gaia Hotel "Qiyan No. 1 Flagship Restaurant" Information:

2F, No. 199, Lequn 2nd Rd., Zhongshan Dist., Taipei City (Taipei Marriott Hotel Midtown Complex)
Tel: 02-8501-1380 Fax: 02-8501-1370 http://www.thegaiahotel.com

The Gaia Hotel Media Contact - PR & Marketing Department

Manager Lucy Li 02-2893-1221 ext. 1201 / 0931-089-372 marcom@thegaiahotel.com
Assistant Manager Ivan Hsu 02-2893-1221 ext. 1203 / 0978-325-347 marcom01@thegaiahotel.com