The Lion Dance Cafe Cookbook: Authentic, Not Traditional

This is a Featured Preorder* for a book that will be published March 3, 2026.

This is what the publisher tells us about this book:

We are C-Y Chia and Shane Stanbridge, the duo behind Michelin-recognized Lion Dance Cafe. Our highly personal, farm to table driven, approach to marrying our Chinese, Singaporean and Italian heritages on the plate for meatless yet uncompromisingly flavorful results has earned us many accolades, including a James Beard nomination each for Best Chef: California, topped New York Times' list of best dishes in the country, Bold Italic's Best New Restaurant & Chef of the Year awards, and features in Bon Appétit's "Queer Food Capital" piece and KQED's TV show Check Please!, just to name a few.

You've been asking us for a cookbook for over 10 years now, from when we were just starting out as S+M Vegan pop up.  Since beginning writing last spring, we have been putting everything into adapting the hits you've come to love for the home kitchen. 

Scaling them (way) down and re-testing them, redeveloping them for more widely available ingredients where we had been relying on our own ferments and aminos—but without losing any of the punch you've come to crave—adding cooking tips along the way... We've also been styling and shooting every single dish ourselves, infusing each scene with distinct Lion Dance Cafe flair.

We get asked often why we aren't going with a conventional publisher, given LDC's profile. It comes back to our motto, "Authentic, not Traditional". Working with a publisher typically requires significant compromising (creatively, timing-wise...). This has taken a lot of thought and research, and we have spoken with publishers as well as cookbook authors and chefs to help us make this decision.

For this first edition of our first—but not last—cookbook, we've concluded that going with our characteristic DIY approach would allow us to bring you a book that will be an authentic reflection of who we are, and of what you have come to love about Lion Dance Cafe. A way to better honor everything that has led to this point, and the continued support of our many regulars (both longtime and new), and of those who have cheered us on from afar through it all.

SO, WHAT'S IN THE BOOK?

After a mini-guide to our fully vegan pantry staples, must-have pieces of cooking equipment and other short and sweet intros meant to get you all ready to dive in and start cooking, we get right into it.

100 recipes packed with our Italo Chinese Singaporean flavors, including our fiery sambals, "intoxicating(ly)" rich coconut laksa, chewy pandan nian gao, famous shaobing sandwiches, aromatic nasi lemak with jackfruit rendang, "unforgettable" mushroom goreng... you name it. Punctuated with tips and pointers, anecdotes about how a recipe came about, and other tidbits. But as always with us, it is really about the food. And our community.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.

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