28-Inch Challenge: Eat Your Way to Glory at the New Kro's

Susan Sheng | Aug 30, 2011 6:00 pm | 7 comments | 4225 reads

So the prodigal son returns. Kro is back in Sanlitun. The new location is smaller than the Xiaoyun Lu place; it seats 150. Same totally boss graffiti art we know and love. Lots of windows, lots of light. A huge, glossy private room behind a glass door (we weren’t allowed to take a photograph). Wi-Fi that chugs along like a sweet little trooper. The interior is the same black industrial-meets-twisted forest scheme that works so well at Xiaoyun Lu. Service was excellent – even deferential – on a late-lunching Tuesday, with no less than three staff personally attending to my pizza needs – and I’m not even that needy.

Zach Lewison, Kro's culinary director, mentioned that they want the new Kro’s to be a pre-party place. Scantily-clad girls of the “Tun,” Mr. Lewison wants to feed you before “releasing” y’all upon the party scene. “We don’t want people drinking on an empty stomach, now,” he told me. True that, sir, true that. He also told me how you can get 600-kuai worth of pizza for free.

You know those 28-inch pizza monstrosities you’ve heard about? Come September, Kro’s will be setting up a 28-inch challenge. Two participants. One hour. One twenty-eight inch pizza. One regular salad. One pitcher of beer. Zero bathroom breaks. If you can hack it, the pizza is yours for free, and as a bonus you'll get your picture in the Hall of Fame. Failure will incur a 600-kuai fee and a snap on the Wall of Shame. You'll need to call ahead to reserve your place in the contest. We’ll let you know when it officially kicks off.

The Kro's team are extending their bar hours for the Sanlitun location to 2am, but the kitchen still closes at 11pm. Quiz night will feature Jim and Tao on Tuesdays (yes, the questions will be different). And they still have those damnably tasty mushroom chips, slightly soft and drowning in ranch dressing, much like a fat kid’s willpower. My pizza roll wasn't as good as I remembered it being in Xiaoyun Lu, though – a little flat and oily. They sent out a complimentary sundae to make up for it, which was nice.

Newly soft-opened on Monday, the Sanlitun Kro's is currently unable to take cards or give out fapiao. They did have something else, though. They gave me a free keyring. Who doesn’t love a free keyring?

Kro’s Nest Daily 10am-2am (kitchen closes at 11pm). Courtyard 4, Sanlitun Nanlu (opposite d lounge), Chaoyang District. (8523 6655)
朝阳区三里屯南路4号院内（d lounge对面）

Photos: Susan Sheng

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Nidaye's picture Nidaye Submitted by Guest on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 10:10

Restaurants don't like giving fapiaos because they don't want to pay taxes on their earnings. It's as simple as that.

I've had many restaurants offer to give me a large bottled soft drink in exchange for not getting a fapiao. In fact this happened again just last week at a rather well-known Peking duck restaurant. In all cases I decline their offer since I really do need the fapiao. For those that use the excuse of a broken fapiao machine, they will usually magicially "find" a fapiao once you threaten to call the tax bureau. I've also run into the "soft opening" situation a few times, in the early days they would offer to mail the fapiao once their machine was ready (and would make good on their promise). These days they will just give you a receipt and tell you to come back in a few weeks to get the fapiao.

As for Kro, I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest that this is the doing of the staff he's hired. Not issuing fapiaos also makes it easier to cook the books, in which case Kro needs to keep a closer eye on those he puts in charge of running the day-to-day operations. However, if what the poster above said about the menu is true, then that does raise some doubts.

Incidentally, I am reminded of an incident back in the summer of 2008 at Kro's Gongti location. The table next to ours had asked for a fapiao but the waitress told them that the machine was broken. When we finished our meal and it came time to maidan, I asked for a fapiao and expected to hear the same excuse. To my surprise the waitress said "mei wen ti" and did so with a smile. I wonder if it had anything to do with my friend who was a volunteer for the 2008 Olympics and was dressed in volunteer garb? For a while this left me with a negative impression of Kro, of course at the time I had no idea about his situation and I would like to think that this was the doing of his ex-partner.

uchimataleao's picture uchimataleao Submitted by Guest on Mon, 09/05/2011 - 11:54

What the hell are you talking about? Don't you understand the word in Chinese for business is the same word as illegal?

The problem is Kro has it backwards: he disobeys the laws that ensure his safety... not the time honored Chinese tradition of ignoring the regulations which protect his customers or business partners.

It is good to see Kro finally getting the hang of this thing, refusing to give a receipt is a good start. I look forward to the day when he has fully matured and begins replacing a portion of the cheese with melted plastic and adds chlorine as a "flavor enhancer" to the tomato sauce.

Cheers

HuanChu's picture HuanChu Submitted by Guest on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 10:32

beijing123 wrote:
Seems like they are in soft opening forever: In the Xiao Yun Lu branch they still can't (don't want to?) give out fapiaos.

Even mentioned in their menu: "we don't like people asking for fapiaos"

For me: Very questionable behaviour!

Seriously? I remember reading on a China Blog once that if shops or restaurants refuse to give Fa Piao, then you can refuse to pay, as it's a legal requirement by the establishment.

Hmmm. Will have to look into that.... :?

A very smart man wrote:
Remember, the courage to be wrong is paramount in importance to the ability to be right.

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