C H E F | R E S T A U R A T E U R | E N T R E P R E N E U R | S O C I A L I N F L U E N C E R

David Laris, born and raised in Sydney Australia with

Greek origins, entered the culinary industry at the age

of 16. He drew inspirations and infused flavor from his

global travels and created a broad spectrum of flavor

profiles. Started in Sydney, his undying spark of passion

and curiosity for international cultures eventually

brought him to Asia, where he honed his skills in Macau

SAR, Hong Kong SAR, and Vietnam. Then he departed

to the other side of the world and continued exploring

the culinary art in Europe. Despite how quickly he rose

to his public acclaim when he was working in Mezzo in

London, when the opportunity arose, he recognized the

vast potential of the Chinese mainland market and then

transferred the focus of his career there. 

Fast forward to the present, he currently holds

different roles of Chief Creative Officer at Cachet

Hotels & Resorts, Managing Director at Acorn Digital

Services and CEO & Co-Founder of David Laris

Creates. As he builds up his professional reputation, he

also accumulates diversified personal labels to his

public presence, including Celebrity Chef, Social Media

Influencer, foodie, advocate of environment protection,

charity and wellness, or tattoo artist. Each one

represents a part of him and the journey he has been

through. 

Award winning tv shows

Internationally acclaimed!

Years of media appearances Public speaking

Brand creative - design & development!

35 years of experience

Over 100 f&b concepts

DAVID LARIS

PROFESSIONAL CULINARY EXPERTISE

David began by learning Commercial Cooking

and Culinary Arts in Sydney Technical College.

Through a series of practice and development in

Asia, his culinary repertoire finally flourished

during his time as General Manager and

Executive Chef in Sir Terence Conran’s flagship

restaurant Mezzo in London. He elevated the

restaurant to a world-renowned status, won the

place countless accolades for inspired dinning

and gained his first public acclaim there. !

 !

After he arrived in Shanghai, in 2003, he

launched his namesake restaurant Laris at Three

on the Bund designed by Michael Graves, which

quickly set the tone of the city’s contemporary

fine dining scene and became a landmark. He

then continually created a variety of exciting

new concepts for the local market, including Le

Sheng, a Best Shanghainese Cuisine winner. His

restaurants and practice have gained him

varieties of awards, among those are prestigious

ones like Lifestyle Asia Hot 10 Restaurants, Best

Restaurant HK Tatler, Innovative Restaurants

Time Out Beijing, and Restaurant of the Year -

That’s Shanghai, Best Continental Restaurant –

Modern Weekly. !

ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERTISE!Besides his own restaurant creations, he also

founded David Laris Creates to develop original

food and beverage concepts for other brands.

During the past 15 years, David has cooperated

with some of the international renowned names,

including Swire Hotel Group, Baccarat, Chanel,

Dunhill, Diageo, Martini, Mattel, and

conceptualized over 100 ideas in Greater China.

He also took an important part in the World

Expo 2010 to set up the logistic and supply

chain for the Australian and Dutch Pavilions and

served as the F&B Consultant and Catering

Partner from the pre-opening. As the Chief

Creative Officer at Cachet Hotels & Resorts, he

utilized his innovation and award winning F&B

concept to take the diversified dining experience

to a next level.!

In addition, David made contributions to the

food and beverage industry from a macro

perspective by helping shape the food and drink

supply chain as well as establishing the

importing of high-end and mass manufactured

products into China. He engaged with multiple

groups to research the China food industry and

the market on information ranging from supply,

logistic to legal, and networking aspects to

create channels for products segments into

China. For instance, he worked with

representatives of the Greek and European

Trade Commissions on opening the supply of

Olive Oils, Australian Meats and Seafood, and

more. He was also among the first ones to

supply direct imported wine into his own

restaurants. !

IN THE SPOTLIGHT!As a successful chef and an influential figure in

the industry, David has been a frequenter to

media exposure. His story and achievements

have been covered in numerous newspapers

and magazines such as Forbes, Wall Street

Journal, New York Times, Esquire, Vogue,

Telegraph, Shanghai Tatler, Shanghai Daily, and

China International Business, just to name a few. !

 !

With participation in a series of TV shows, he

further presented his talent through the lens.

He has been invited to take interviews and

demonstrate culinary skills on different media,

including Bloomberg Asia, International Channel

Shanghai, iTV Shanghai, Beijing Financial

Channel, etc. He was a regular in Dining with

David and Sarah which was distributed on

multiple channels in China with over 1.5 million

views for just Season 1. Besides, he appeared

alongside legendary chef Gordon Ramsay on

BBC reality show Faking it, which won several

prestigious awards that year. He was also

featured in Netflix Wahlburgers episodes in

2017.!

SOCIAL MEDIA!Entering the new media blooming era,

David’s expertise further shines through

more channels as he gradually develops

into a social influencer in the category. He

created his own fun yet educational short

videos, including David Laris Challenge

Show, David Laris How to and David Laris

The Arts of Refined Dining, One Minute

Tutorial to showcase the culinary arts as

well as share practical kitchen techniques.

He also appears in shows, joined by other

celebrities, such as The Kitchen Notebook.

His professionalism attracts professional

kitchen brands like Chef Works, Miji

Kitchen and KitchenAid for collaboration.

By distributing videos and posts on Weibo,

WeChat, Bilibili, Tik Tok, Youku, Youtube,

and Instagram, he started to grow a

remarkable fan base across platforms. His

Weibo followers rapidly increased to more

than 1 million within ten months. For the

last three months, his Weibo posts reached

over 12 million impressions while the

featured David Laris Challenge Show got

an engagement of over 4 million on each

episode.!

GIVING BACK

David lives by the ethos EAT. NO. EVIL and is an advocate for cruelty free

and sustainable dining. This faith also expands outside the kitchen to

environment protection, charity, and wellness. He works with charity: water

to appeal more attention and action to water scarcity around certain areas

in Asia and Africa. The ongoing fundraising for charity: water initiated by

David on social media has already helped more than 200 people get access

to clean water. He also worked with Teens for Food Justice (TFFJ), an

organization that empowers teens as change agents towards solutions of

food security, by cooking for a table of celebrities and entrepreneurs in an

event to bring awareness to the TFFJ. In addition, he was actively involved

in social media campaigns for public benefits like Lonely Whale Strawless

Ocean and No Smoking Day. !

AWARDS HIGHLIGHTS

12 CHAIRS BY DAVID LARIS

•  Nominated for The Miele Guide’s Best Restaurants in Asia 2012/2013

•  Best Restaurants Selection – Modern Weekly 2011/2012

•  Best Fine Dining – That’s Shanghai 2011

DAVID LARIS CREATES

•  Business Excellence Award, Australian Chinese Business Awards, Austcham China 2010

•  Business Innovation Award, Australian Chinese Business Awards, Austcham China 2008

DOWNSTAIRS

•  Best Mediterranean Restaurant, Time Out China Awards 2010

•  Best Restaurant Design, Eco-Design Category, Dining for Design 2010, Elle Décor

•  Best Restaurant of the Year, Modern Weekly Restaurant Awards 2010

•  Octopus Salad, Best Summer Salads, CNNgo 2010

LARIS RESTAURANT AWARDS

•  #1 Restaurant in China, The Miele Guide, 2009/2010!

•  #8 Restaurant in Asia, The Miele Guide, 2009/2010!

•  Best Restaurant of the Year – Shanghai Tatler, 2005-2008!

•  Restaurant of the Year – That’s Shanghai, 2004-2008!

•  Best Fine Dining Restaurant – That’s Shanghai, 2008!

•  Best Decor – That’s Shanghai, 2008!

•  Millionaire Gourmet Awards 2007!

•  Best Continental Restaurant – Modern Weekly, 2007!

•  Top 80 Great New Restaurants – Condé Nast Traveler (US), 2005!

•  Best Continental Cuisine – Modern Weekly, 2005!

•  Best Restaurant – Modern Weekly, 2004!

LE SHENG

•  Best Shanghainese, That’s Shanghai Awards 2012

SLICE

•  Best Deli - That’s Shanghai 2007

•  Design for Asia Awards, Finalist 2007

THE BELLBROOK•  Hong Kong Michelin Guide 2015

•  Best Restaurant, HK Tatler 2014

THE FAT OLIVE•  ICS Restaurant of the Year Awards - ‘healthy hotspot’

2011

•  Best Al Fresco – That’s Shanghai 2009-2011

THE PORTERHOUSE BY LARIS

•  Lifestyle Asia Hot 10 Restaurant

•  SCMP 100 Top Tables

•  WINE LUXE Hong Kong Top 10 Wine Pairing Restaurant Awards 2015

THE PURPLE ONION•  Best Pizza in Shanghai, Time Out 2010 (English)

TV AND SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO SHOWS

INTERVIEWS & COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS

•  Bloomberg Asia

•  ICS (International Channel Shanghai)

iTV Asia

•  Beijing Financial Channel

•  TTV China

•  Star TV

•  Piers Morgan on Shanghai

•  Connoisseur Shanghai

David Laris on “Piers Morgan on Shanghai”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDSD8ZL8eP8

David Laris on Bloomberg TV:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDPzRwS1pQc

“DINING WITH DAVID & SARAH”

Season 1 kicked off in September 2012 with 14

episodes, each focused on introducing a different

western cuisine or ingredient to the local audience.

David cooks on camera with his co-host Sarah Zhang,

showcasing simple to make dishes in a casual and

entertaining format. Episodes were uploaded to

Youku, Tudou, CNTV.com (CCTV’s online video

platform), Mei Shi China (the leading food and

lifestyle website in China), iQiyi, Ku6.com, and PPTV

every two weeks and promoted extensively across

Weibo. Season 1 has been viewed over 1.5 million

times in China and had a direct fanbase of over

400,000 with 10 million social media impressions.

BBC REALITY SHOW “FAKING IT” WITH GORDON RAMSAY

David Laris served as an advisor and mentor to the main subject. A camera crew filmed David and his family for one month. He appeared on the show alongside award-winning international chef Gordon Ramsay. The show and participants won several awards including “Best Factual Moment” at BBC’s 2001 TV Moments, “Best Factual Feature” at the 2002 BAFTA Awards, and “The Popular Art Award” at the 2002 International Emmy Awards.

Faking it on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D0AZ10A/?tag=tvg_aiv_eptab-20&ref_=asc_tvg

David Laris Challenge Show

David Laris How To

David Laris The Arts of Refined Dining

One Minute Tutorial

ON-CAMERA HIGHLIGHTS

The Bellbrook Bistro OZ by David Laris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFGE1o6sEnY Porterhouse by Laris “Ladies’ Cut” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFGE1o6sEnY

Porterhouse by Laris “For the Definitive Dirty Martini”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLYw29eRKHE Porterhouse by Laris “The Definitive Steakhouse”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOKJo1N9MTs Dining with David & Sarah Best Moments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeQT3ABxx_c

Dining with David & Sarah Greek Feast Episode:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf30ttWxONo Dining with David & Sarah Quick Western Breakfast Episode:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsLMCAW6e7I

Dining with David & Sarah Foie Gras Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzL5D1qwsXk Dining with David & Sarah Chocolate Episode: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8SkY9PrdfY Dining with David & Sarah Canapes & Little Bites Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAjl9bLAIeQ

David Laris The Arts of Refined Dining Episode：�https://m.weibo.cn/3075929143/4398318895948351��David Laris Challenge Show Episode：�https://m.weibo.cn/3075929143/4377952634345224��David Laris How to Episode：�https://m.weibo.cn/3075929143/4403349824563189��One Minute Tutorial Episode：�https://m.weibo.cn/3075929143/4385554051249134��David's Penthouse Cocktails Episode：�https://m.weibo.cn/3075929143/4380576989237816�

EVENTS & PUBLIC SPEAKING

As an expert in his field, David constantly got invited into events to share his

professional experience and creative insights. He was the Guest Speaker for

Marriott Hotels - Asia-Pacific Management Conference 2012, presenting to over

300 Marriott executives from across the APAC region. He was also the Celebrity

Chef for Renaissance RLife LIVE Shanghai Launch 2012. In March 2019, invited by

Ideal Home Show, David attended the event and showcased his culinary skills in the

section of Chef’s Kitchen. Over the years, he performed as spokesperson, guest

speaker and influencer for product launches, media events and store openings for

international brands in the China market. !

MEDIA MENTIONS SNAPSHOT•  FORBES

•  WALL STREET JOURNAL

•  NEW YORK TIMES

•  ESQUIRE

•  VOGUE

•  THE TELEGRAPH

•  REUTERS

•  FINANCIAL TIMES

•  GLOBAL TIMES

•  SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

•  INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

•  LA REPUBBLICA

•  LUXE CITY GUIDES

•  ELLE MAGAZINE

•  SHANGHAI TATLER

•  SHANGHAI DAILY

•  CHINA INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

•  CNNGO

•  GOURMET TRAVELLER

•  FOOD & TRAVEL MAGAZINE

•  CITY WEEKEND

•  TRAVEL & LEISURE

•  METROPOLIWORLD CUISINE

•  THAT'S SHANGHAI

•  JING DAILY

•  CHINA DAILY

•  TIME OUT

•  HONG KONG TATLER

•  EXTENSIVE MEDIA LIBRARY

AVAILABLE

THE COOKBOOK

T H E M E N U B Y D AV I D L A R I S A N D D E A N

B R E T T S C H N E I D E R ( 2 0 0 9 )

A collaboration between David and good friend, master baker, and pastry

chef, Dean Brettschneider, The Menu is a collection of 15 five-course menus.

From the bread at the start of a meal, to the starters, mains, desserts and

petit fours, this cookbook was written to provide inspiration and ideas to

home cooks and hosts.

BY DAVID LARIS

BY DAVID LARIS

FOOD & BEVERAGE CONCEPTS EXAMPLES

Porterhouse Le Sheng The Bellbrook Feast

Bei 12 Chairs Downstairs Sureno

The Fat Olive

Laris on The Bund

FOOD & BEVERAGE CONCEPTS

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