Plant-Based Powerhouse Duli Pops-Up in Beijing
Shanghai’s first fully vegan bistro, Duli, opened its doors in 2020 to a whirlwind of fanfare and reverence; three years later, it remains consistently fully booked and iconic due to an experimental menu that fuses Western and Chinese palates to appeal to an Instagrammable aesthetic. They must be doing something right because Duli has been awarded the honor of ‘Best Vegetarian Western Food’ by That’s Shanghai for three consecutive years. From today until Jan 31, Beijingers will finally be able to experience this cacophony of flavors without boarding a train or plane to Shanghai.
Duli’s Beijing-based partner, Nafy, has played a pivotal role in arranging a pop-up lunch at Ori Sake & Food; however, this isn’t the first time she has catered to vegans in the capital as she opened the city’s only plant-based western restaurant: TYV - Take Your Veggie (now closed) in 2021. Like many vegans and vegetarians, her culinary origin story began with a stray animal.
“I picked up a stray dog and didn’t want to hurt another animal like him,” she says. “In 2021, my friend EZ and I opened up TYV, and in 2023, I became a partner of Duli.” While the number of vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Beijing has seemingly remained constant over the last decade, Nafy believes that the public consensus has changed. “At least 90 percent of our friends who mention the word vegan clearly understand what it means,” she laughs, adding that fewer people are asking “Are you hungry if you’re a vegetarian?”
While Shanghai’s storefront is perhaps the most well-known, Duli also has a presence in Hebei: Jinshanling and Chengde. The Chengde restaurant is located in a resort area and as such, it is very much a seasonal endeavor with the kitchen being closed for the frigid winter months. Nafy and her staff are not satisfied with staying dormant for so long and devised a plan to take their show on the road, with this pop-up being the first of two excursions into Beijing (the second being planned for March, 2024).
While the full menu won’t be on offer to Beijing diners, they have expertly curated a selection of the most popular dishes served in Shanghai (see menu below). The Corn and Cauliflower Fritter garnished with pickled vegetables in a pillowy bao (RMB 89) is delectable, while the Mapo Tofu Hummus (RMB 79) is the perfect example of fusion food done right. While these two are firm fan favorites, the ever-evolving menu contains new surprises such as the Truffle Pumpkin Cannelloni (RMB 98).
It seems fitting that Ori Sake & Food will play host to this pop-up lunch, as their menu also reflects fusion cuisine with an emphasis on Sichuan flavors; Duli and Ori both share a vision for promoting plant-based food. “It should impress guests with delicious tastes rather than the concept of vegetarian food,” says Nafy.
Both Yusi Fan (Ori) and Nafy share the same view of a meat-free restaurant. After their first encounter, they only needed to talk for an hour before deciding to work together on this collaboration. Their shared vision of a kinder and more sustainable future is not limited to the food they choose to serve, but extends as far as the menus that are printed using RISO technology, a process that uses environmentally friendly ink made from soybeans and rice bran.
Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, or simply curious about plant-based dining, Duli’s pop-up lunch at Ori Sake is worth checking out. Like Nafy says, “I think because we are at the top of the food chain, we can use the tools and solutions we have developed over millennia to solve the problems regarding food scarcity and food security that we are currently facing, rather than eating other animals as the only way to survive.”
The Duli Pop-Up at Ori Sake & Food (address below) is taking from Thursday, Nov 30 until Jan 31, 11am-2pm (lunch service only) everyday except Mondays when Ori is closed. Entry is free.
哦了 Ori Sake & Food
47 Jiaodaokou Nandajie, Dongcheng District
东城区交道口南大街47号
Hours: Daily, 6pm-1am (special hours for pop-up)
Phone: 132 4076 8756
READ: Bar Street No More: Sanlitun Strip Gets an Upgrade
Images courtesy of Nafy and Duli
