Restaurant Kiessling

Restaurant Kiessling

Restaurant Kiessling is a cultural heritage site protected by Tianjin Municipality.

“Kiessling” was the earliest Western-style restaurant in Tianjin and even in China. In the late Qing Dynasty, after the Eight-Nation Alliance occupied Tianjin in 1900, it is said that a German chef named Kiessling, who came to Tianjin with the German troops, was famous for making bread and sweets. The Western cuisine of Kiessling spread Western food culture and became a legendary chapter fondly recalled by the older generation of Tianjiners. It is ranked among China’s four great Western restaurants, alongside Shanghai’s Yake Hongfang, Beijing’s Maxim’s, and Harbin’s Huamei. From exquisitely crafted tableware to a wide variety of Western dishes, from its elaborately decorated dining space to its attentive and polite service, Kiessling has written a splendid chapter in Tianjin’s culinary scene.

After the fall of Tianjin in 1937, the business of the restaurant declined sharply. After the liberation, it was taken over by the government and its operations gradually improved year by year. Starting in 1954, the restaurant division of Kiessling merged with the then Vigoroli Restaurant (now Restaurant Kiessling on Zhejiang Road, Tianjin). Vigoroli, originally named Yishunhe, opened in the 1920s, expanded its operations in the 1940s, and was renamed Vigoroli. It mainly served Russian Western cuisine, while also offering famous dishes and pastries from British, French, German, and Italian cuisines. After the merger of Kiessling and Vigoroli, the combined establishment was renamed Restaurant Kiessling. The bread and pastry-making sections of the two original shops were separately established as the Kiessling Food Factory, which specialized in the production of pastries, sweets, chocolates, and similar items. After the reform and opening-up, both Restaurant Kiessling and the Kiessling Food Factory maintained their traditional flavors while improving management practices and continuously introducing new pastry varieties.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Tianjin Cultural Heritage Protection Units