Dining News: Discerning Deals, Michelin Stars and Shopping For Meat Cleavers
They say April is the cruelest month, but I’m in favor of September taking the crown. For students, it's back-to-school season. For all of us, time to begin apparel-shopping for colder weather. And there’s the constant battle to eat well without spending so much that you end up resorting to crime to make ends meet. For aspiring fine diners (and people who would just like to save a little) – we’ve got a few higher-end dining deals to make your eating experience friendlier on the wallet.
Barolo, inside the Ritz-Carlton Beijing – that’s the one in Huamao – is currently running an art-meets-food exhibition, featuring dishes from executive chef Gianluca Visani and paintings by Francesco de Grandi. In celebration, they’re offering 20 percent off all food and beverage consumption at Barolo until September 10. Go, and order the Atlantic cod. Tender, creamy, and topped off with a crispy piece of pig. Fabulous.
Looking further ahead, Modo turns one on September 29 with a “Small Plate Feast.” Free-flow small plates from chef Daniel Urdaneta will cost you RMB 365 – not a small sum, but a definite steal. Their Nutella crème brulee is usually RMB 65, so one only needs to eat six to make the ticket worth it. If you've tried it, I'm sure you'd be OK with eating six too.
Beijing doesn't have too many decent options for Malaysian food, so if you're craving a bit of lok bak, bee hoon or laksa, get yourself over to Senses at the Westin Financial Street . They've got a great buffet selection of Malaysian delicacies and treats available at lunch and dinner until September 4. Lunch is RMB 288+15%, dinner RMB 338+15%.
Now, I admit that Casa Latina is more "dine" than "fine," but they do offer, in my very humble opinion, the very best Mexican food you can get in Beijing. They’re running an All-You-Can-Eat Taco Night next Wednesday, September 7 for just 100 bones. It might get a little bit epic.
Similarly epic: two notable chefs coming to Beijing in September. Nobuyuki Matshisa of Nobu fame is heading into town from September 26-28. Daniel Boulud is also due in next week for his yearly visit to Maison Boulud. More details on those as we receive them.
Finally, we braved the elements last Friday morning to join two-star Michelin chef Michel Portos for a trip around Dongjiao and Sanyuanli markets. Chef Portos was visiting the local markets as part of his stint at the Ritz-Carlton Financial Street's Cepe restaurant. After picking up a rather sizable meat cleaver at Dongjiao, and sampling various offerings from stalls at Sanyuanli, Chef Portos hosted a demonstration class at Cepe in the afternoon, before holding forth on everything from what it takes to become a Michelin-starred chef ("It's not that difficult - you just need to work hard") to spotting a good chef from a bad chef ("You can tell a lot about a chef from the way he dresses to work - how clean he is, how smart he is. That gives something away") to Ferran Adria ("Amazing") in a Q+A session with local media. Chef Portos' four/eight course degustations are available at Cepe for RMB 688/1,288+15% until September 3.
