Chinese Food Goes Ultra Glam at Hakkasan in San Francisco Recipe

Pipa duck at Hakkasan in San Francisco.

As a child growing up in San Francisco, I remember many a time accompanying my Dad to a Chinatown joint, where he’d order a plate of fluffy steamed rice topped with an ample portion of cleaver-chopped roasted duck for all of $5.

It was cheap, filling and satisfying.

I couldn’t help but flash back to that no-frills dish when I had a far more luxurious version recently at Hakkasan in San Francisco, when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant.

Oh sure, you can have roast duck with rice here. But it’ll set you back $40.

Yes, that plate of duck alone — 12 slices of gorgeous mahogany skin each covering a sliver of meat resting on a smear of hoisin sauce — is…