Capital Bites: More Free Cookies, Pleading the Pie Amendment and Another 40 Element Freshes?

It's been a week of pleasant surprises. An unexpected gift of mouse-faced gloves. An outstandingly low cellphone bill. Knowing that the Pavillion is no longer being run by a New Zealand cover band. Trying organic, vegan instant noodles, and finding them actually reasonably tasty. OK, they're not exactly Michelin-star fare, but they're healthy, certified and leave you with a saintly feeling. All proceeds help out Beijing's rescue cats. And afterward, you can balance the angelic with a few Halloween eats! More cat, food and opening news through the link!

In this week's eating press, Shanghai import chain Element Fresh has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal. The article mentions their goal of opening up another 40 Element Fresh outlets China-wide by 2015 - good luck! Check out our reader reviews of Element Fresh here, and please feel free to offer your own take.

The old W Dine & Wine space now houses Starfish, a wine-and-oyster bar. Glass of wine plus three oysters is RMB 98, and they've also got a set lunch. More details here.

CORRECTION: Mao Mao Chong's meat pie extravaganza is not on the 30th, as previously claimed here. It is actually on Monday the 31st, and they don't take walk-ins. If you've missed out, there's another veggie pie night on November 14. Just the pie & sides (potato mash, white beans and relish) is RMB 50. A glass of Vedett, Australian white wine or a house cocktail can be added for RMB 75, RMB 85 and RMB 95 respectively. Book your pie and drink order at least four days ahead at maomaochongstore@yahoo.com.

Also from last week: nobody wants free cookies? We still have some to give away from this post. Post your favorite childhood cookie/biscuit for a chance to get free cookies delivered. Unless you were all cookie-deprived as children. Then, er, write that, and maybe we'll feel sorry for you.

Whispers of a new Vietnamese joint coming to town: V-Sub, invading World City and Chaowai Soho later this year. We're told to expect other banh mi-purveying locales in Sanlitun, the Kerry Centre and Guomao in 2012.

American Cafe in Blue Castle has closed.

Sureno have a new seasonal winter menu: we'll be trying it in the next week. More on this later.

The Westin Chaoyang have a new (Maltese!) pastry chef and Chinese chef on board. I'll be trying out the Epicurean Seafood Dinner at their buffet restaurant, Seasonal Tastes next week, and perhaps try some of the new pastry chef's cakeish creations. If you'd like to sample for yourself, give them a call on 5922 8880.

Speaking of chefs, Swiss master chef Mattias Roock is coming to the Kempinski hotel. He'll work some of his international magic at Trattoria La Gondola from Nov 4-13, and cooking traditional Swiss brunch on Nov 6 and 13 at Kranzler's. As an aside, the cheese selection at Kranzler's is really very good - I sampled it a few months back, and I'd still say it ranks among the top three buffet cheese selections in Beijing. Call 6465 3388 to book.

Lastly, Union Bar & Grille have some new winter dishes on the menu. Think heartier offerings like soup-in-a-bread-bowl (pretty much the tastiest gimmick ever) and chicken parmesan. I ate this entire thing a few nights ago. It's the closest thing to a good Australian chicken parma Beijing's got. So good.

Photos: Susan Sheng, Sesamestreet.org & Beijingcat.org