How do you judge good food?

I like clean food that don’t confuse. For me, the presentation is very important. I like colours and textures. I work with colours like greens, pink, red, black—clean colours that complement each other. You can eat with or without the sauces. In ... Read more »

Try asking a foodie to name three famous female chefs and I doubt you’ll get any answers. Women are the traditional family nourishers and recipe-hoarders, yet they don’t dominate the professional culinary world in the least. I spoke to Beijing’s top female chefs and restaurant pros to ... Read more »

Jianguomen | Chuan Ban

Chuan Ban is one of the finest Sichuan restaurants in the city—naturally since the government officials from the Sichuan province have their representative office in the same building. Chuan Ban does a textbook version of this dish (¥18) that takes an extra 20 minutes to prepare ... Read more »

All About the Eggs

Chaoyang Park | Chef Too

Eggs Benedict hails from late 19th century New York, when socialite, stockbroker and very particular dinner-orderer Lemuel Benedict asked the maitre de at the Waldorf for buttered toast, bacon and a jar of hollandaise. Chef Too pays tribute to the city’s ... Read more »

CW’s columnist scouts the best restaurants for Beijing’s dating season

As we get deeper into the ‘ber (or ‘burrr’) months, it seems like everyone is doing their best to find someone to hibernate through the winter with. Lately, not a day goes by that I don't get ... Read more »

The recipe for success in an ever changing dining landscape

It’s happened to everyone. You make plans to go to your favorite eatery, only to find that it closed. In a city where restaurants open and close faster than you can say huanying guanglin, what does it take to ... Read more »

Restaurants try to please both the eyes and mouths

Unlike the world-renowned Michelin guide, which purportedly focuses restaurant reviews solely upon what lands on the plate, patrons’ palates are inarguably influenced by additional factors—ambiance, reputation and service among them. Good décor similarly sways tastebuds, which is why eateries like ... Read more »

Seafood Mania

Could you tell us more about your restaurateur portfolio? Well, actually I was a computer engineer at LG electronics, I designed the 286 computer hardware. I studied in the United States and later joined an American company where I designed an industrial robot for factories. Getting into the ... Read more »

Following Manuela's last Column on "Cooking pleasures", here's a list to make it easier for those looking to check out the fresh produce at the markets recommended.

Jenny Lou's

carrefour

Schindler's

[Boucherie Michel]

(http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/listings/dining/deli_sandwich/has/boucherie-michel/)

Piazza Italia ... Read more »

Where to find the best produce for home-style culinary treats

Now that the Olympics hype is over, it might be time to stay home and create something in our own kitchen for a change. How and where to start?

Tobias Gensheimer, chef at The Regent, admits that most of his ... Read more »

Hong Kong’s latest dining trends are mirrored in Beijing

Hong Kong is China’s cosmopolitan culinary capital, the PRC’s most open city when it comes to international trends. But surveying the city’s hot spots, I noticed that many trends are mirrored in our local hub, which made ... Read more »

Live entertainment brings the world to Beijing’s dining tables

Today's best show on Earth is at most a bus trip away—in the stadiums, fields and arenas of Beijing. But even while you're eating, the show will go on.

Beijing's most prolific Russian restaurant, The Elephant ... Read more »

Champion Chef

How did you start your cooking career? I like drawing and interior design, so when I was 15 I was supposed to go to art school but I flunked my entrance test so I went to cooking school. I said to myself, “It’s okay. I can’t ... Read more »

Get a taste of Old Beijing at these classic restaurants

At the Qianmen location of Quan Ju De Roast Duck Restaurant, owner Jiang Junxian claims the furnace fire has burned continuously since 1864. At 144 years, that outshines the flame of the modern Olympics, first held in Athens in 1896 ... Read more »

A wave of celebrity chefs rolls into Beijing

"Everyone is coming to China. It is the land of opportunity," explains Eric Johnson, Chef Partner of the famous Jean-George in Shanghai, while we discuss the boom in the restaurant business. And there's no better indicator of Beijing's mounting cosmopolitanism ... Read more »

Finding the equipment top chefs depend on

If you've tried to buy a soufflé bowl, cheese grater or measuring spoons recently, you know how frustrating home-cooking can be in Beijing. Thankfully, life has just gotten easier, thanks to newly-opened Pantry Magic. "There is a market need for high-quality kitchenware ... Read more »

Path to perfection or marketing nightmare?

My recent experience at an eatery in the new 1949 complex wasn't great-and I said so in my review. Some thought we were harsh, especially since 1949 was in its "soft opening,” which got me to thinking about the entire process of giving ... Read more »

Fine dining straight from the vine

Cepe's Executive Chef Eugenio Iraci's claim that "We don't need to worry about year-round mushrooms" may sound a little outrageous. But Iraci always has Shimeji, Matsuki and Chanterelles on hand, as well as Oyster spores sprouting on shelf after shelf of ... Read more »

A fresh batch of restaurants arrives from Shanghai

After attaining success in two Shanghai outposts, wine bar and cafe Enoteca owners Youngju Lee and Pierre Monie have set their sights on an outlet at The Place in Beijing's CBD. They're convinced demand exists in our city for "a ... Read more »

The end of dining’s industrial revolution

A recent weekend jaunt through Shanghai's best restaurants impressed on me the importance of intimacy and warmth in dining. "Restaurants...have to feel authentic, organic and, above all, comfortable," stressed Michelle Garnaut, of M on the Bund, who expects to open Capital ... Read more »

And one step back: the perils of menu redesign

"Every season you have to change the card" is the no-nonsense approach of Brasserie Flo's newest chef, Bertrand Combe. And he's not alone in his preparations to forego winter's culinary seasonal affective disorder: La Fattoria, Garden of Delights ... Read more »

Smoking the competition at Beijing's smoke-free eateries

Though there were "empty tables at the city's first no-smoking restaurant," Meizhou Dongpo, as reported by China Daily, three of Beijing's prominent smoke-free canteens have had exactly the opposite experience. "Every night we take two rounds of seating, and all ... Read more »

School's in Session with the City's Best Chefs

While we plebians are righteously picking apart the city's dining industry, the real culinary kings of Beijing are busy sizing up our ability to appreciate truly innovative cuisine. "We have to educate the palette" Blu Lobster's Brian McKenna ... Read more »