Capital Bites: Sureno's Big Cheese, Swiss Wonders at the Kempinski & Alice Waters in Beijing?
I checked out Sureño's winter menu at lunch today: this is the caprino delle langhe, Piedmont goats' cheese wrapped in smoked pancetta. Tangy fennel and beetroot cut the richness a little but this the most decadent winter item I've sampled this year thus far. Look at it! It's a ball of cheese, wrapped in pig. The price: RMB 128+15% service and worth every fen. Their pizza is also seriously good value for lunch – it usually costs RMB 118+15%, but RMB 138+15% for the set lunch will get you an additional two courses, including a cute tapas buffet.
You know the drill: more dining news through the link.
To open with some openings: Da Giuliano pasticceria is the newest addition to Sanlitun Beixiaojie, located next to Assaggi (the two venues share proprietors). They're offering both traditional Italian sweets (mini cannoli) and more international-style tasties (I spied baby Danishes!). Everything is very small and very cute – maybe the New York trend of tiny desserts is catching on here in Beijing? In any case, RMB 5 will get you one adorable Da Giuliano dessert. Proper review soon.
Gung Ho! is opening in Lido on November 9. More details here.
There's a new Indian restaurant coming to Sanlitun Soho next month. We think it's called Khajuraho, and apparently they have ambitions for a Ganges-style empire of Beijing restaurants. Ganges is opening a new location in Wudaokou's U-Center on November 15 (not U-Town, as some have reported). This is to replace their old Chengfu Lu location. Interested in Indian? Flick through our Indian food feature on Issuu.com here.
Also supposedly opening in SLT Soho is Pakistani restaurant Khan Baba. There's a fifth-floor storefront with their name on it; they apparently started renovating the space a few months ago, but a recent peek showed no progress. If any of you readers are clued in, let us know!
Luce has reopened after a month of renovations.
We checked out the gourmet stylings of Mattias Roock at Trattoria La Gondola last night (Nov 4). Highlights included a scampi cream soup and a pan-seared halibut with Prosecco jelly, pictured above. He's a relatively young chef (31), but he's already on the verge of obtaining a Michelin star for his work at the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains in Switzerland. He'll be in town until the 13th and he's also doing brunch at Kranzler's this Sunday. If you go, this is what he looks like (here being introduced by the Kempinski's general manager, Stephan Interthal).
Secrets seem to be all the rage in Beijing these days: down-low Japanese eatery Vin Zai has changed its name to Vin Vi, and added yakitori options to their menu. They already had a great thing going, but now, ooh, skewers ...
Pekotan is rumored to be opening a new bakery next year. This can only be a good thing.
A slightly stranger piece of food gossip: American locavore chef Alice Waters, of Chez Panisse fame, is supposed to be catering a 240-person dinner at the American Embassy later this month. The twist? Famous people will be doing the serving. Meryl Streep, Yo-Yo Ma, Dakota Fanning, Amy Tan and Joel Coen are just some of the big names trying their hand at table service. We're a little concerned about the carbon footprint of flying all of these people in from the US. Surely, Waters could have sourced some local celebs? Still, if you have an invite, please let us know how it goes – we're terribly curious.
Lastly but not leastly, our Pizza Cup blasts off on Monday, November 7! The bracket is here (download it, print it out, start a dubiously-legal betting pool ...). For the chance to win a pizza party at the winning restaurant, simply predict the final match-up (and the winner) here. I'm going to be boring and say that Kro's Nest will edge out Gung Ho!, if only by a little, though neither are my favorite.
Photos: Susan Sheng & Iain Shaw
