Archives for category: Restaurants

Beijing’s New Dining Oasis

July 5, 2012 //

Belgian-born, Ignace Lecleir, the owner of Beijing’s newest fine dining restaurant, Temple Restaurant Beijing (TRB), has been trained and equipped with the necessary tools to create the city’s new dining oasis. Having been trained in hotel management, Lecleir has worked in the food meccas from London to Los Angeles, from San Francisco to New York, and quite literally around the world, as a sommelier for a prestigious cruise line. Believing New York was where he wanted to finally call home, he was given the opportunity to open Daniel Boulud’s newest project in Beijing, Maison Boulud. Too good of an opportunity to pass, Lecleir moved to Beijing with little knowledge of China, to open the famed Boulud restaurant in the old American embassy building in Qian’men. After two and a half years, Lecleir decided it was time to venture off with his own project, something that would allow him to have full creative control.

Having seen the 600-year-old temple during his weekly jogs around the area, Lecleir worked hard to renovate the space, assemble and train a service-oriented team and develop a superb menu based upon local and organic ingredients. Only open for the past five and a half months, TRB sits in an old Beijing hutong just at the Northeast corner of the Forbidden City.

Temple Restaurant Beijing, Exterior (Courtesy of TRB)

Zandie Brockett (ZB): What inspired you to create the restaurant in this atmosphere and how has influenced your menu?

Ignace Lecleir (IL): Trying to set up a restaurant in this surrounding is difficult because it’s very old. The most important thing for me was trying to find a way to respect the Chinese culture without doing too much damage. We opened up the space as much as possible, so that it pulls your attention outside. Inside the restaurant, we tried to create an environment that was very clean and slick. Almost like the big city feeling of New York. The idea was to integrate the big city feeling in the middle of a Beijing hutong.

Temple Restaurant Beijing, Interior (Courtesy of TRB)

ZB: Tell me more about your menu and your head chef.

IL: We have a culinary team composed of three Chinese chefs, one gentleman from London, whose role is the facilitator and gives inspiration to the team. We also have a Chinese pastry chef from the south of China. She speaks no English, but rather French. We try as much to support the local community, and so we work with local farmers and try to use organic ingredients. If we feel that we cannot find the right ingredients, then we go abroad. In that case we still try to stay as close as possible. The most exciting thing is to see how the local team is coming to understand flavors and pull things together.

‘Pulling things together,’ was an understatement, for the twelve-course lunch I was served incorporated interesting combinations, whether fresh baked breads imbedded with squid ink or bacon, fresh Boston lobster served with fois gras and a side lobster salad, or roasted young pigeon with cauliflower + green bean puree and crisped bacon, the plethora of flavors and delicately crafted presentation proved an excellent tasting of the multinational culinary talents. A personal favorite was the truffled soup with black truffle slice and tofu-like mushroom garnish; the creamy puree was warm and rich with earthy flavors. Further an olive oil poached black cod served with saffron potatoes quite literally melted in my mouth. For those who prefer the last course first, there was a series of desserts to please even the most avid sweet tooth. Starting with a perfectly creamy and somewhat iced cheesecake toped with a jammed passion fruit, it was followed by three quaint trays filled with chocolate truffles, jellied raspberry candies, white chocolate fondant, marshmallows found in plain, citrus and rose flavors, and finally, a deep fried fondant to finish the meal along side a shot of espresso.

Freshly Baked Squid Ink Bread

Truffled Mushroom Soup with Black Truffle and Tofu-Like Mushroom Garnish

Roast Pigeon with Green Bean and Cauliflower Puree and Crisped Bacon

Olive Oil Poached Cod served with Saffron Potatoes

Additionally, the meal was paired with a variety of predominately white wines ranging in region, body, and fruitiness. TRB and their knowledgeable sommelier clearly exercised their large selection of wines, which Lecleir said to range in value form 280RMB to 100,000RMB. “We have different price points in our menu and in our wine list, so that you can come and find an interesting bottle of wine and feel like your like you’re having a good time. As from the service perspective, you will be treated the same whether coming for a special occasion or just coming to enjoy a western meal.”

Cheesecake with Passionfruit + many a wine pairing

Beyond TRB’s extensive wine list and well-produced contemporary European fare, I found the service to be restaurant’s strongest element. Given that new restaurants often take “some time to tango” as Lecleir says, TRB’s wait staff was surprisingly attentive and well equipped to provide their customers a comfortable meal. Despite many TRB staff coming from little to no service background, Lecleir works with his staff to train them for two hours daily; it’s no wonder the service mimics that found in a five-star hotel. “My goal is that they make the right decision without me telling them what to do. That’s why we train so much, because I feel that service should be very spontaneous and not pre-programmed. When the moment is there, you try to make an impact and understand what the customer wants; its really about emotions, about how you personally feel and how the other person feels.”

Lecleir clearly has dedicated his heart into the creation of TRB, yet the restaurateur speaks of the other food related activities he enjoys on his time away from the restaurant.

ZB: When you’re at home, what do you enjoy cooking for yourself?

IL: I usually like simple things. When I cook at home, I like to go to Sanyuanli market. I love that feeling of going to a market and going to look and feel the produce. I never have a plan, I just walk in, get inspired, see what’s fresh and just go home and try to put things together.

ZB: What is your favorite cuisine?

IL: I’m from Belgium, so we don’t have any spicy food. So when I first tasted Sichuan food, it was a very, very new experience. I have really taken a liking to it, especially in this kind of weather, when it’s a little rainy and during the winter. Actually, I crave it; I have to have it.

ZB: What is your favorite Chinese restaurant in Beijing?

IL: It’s actually down the street. It’s the state house representative restaurant for Chengdu.

Categories Beijing, Food, Fresh Ingredients, Hutongs, Restaurants

Yannick Alléno’s S.T.A.Y. Beijing

May 13, 2012 //

Beijing’s newest gastronomical feat is about to launch its new summer menu, its third since the restaurant’s inception. S.T.A.Y., an acronym for Simple Table Alléno Yannick, is in fact a chain restaurant, with outposts around the world, but Beijing’s location at the Shangri-La Hotel is Asia’s first; a location in Taiepi being the second. However, given the restaurant’s attention to detail to create the ultimate dinning experience, one would never assume the larger scale from which it comes. The restaurant’s concept focuses on the notion of a community table, one where friends and family can gather for a meal of shared courses and oversized bottles of wine.

The French, three Michelin star chef, Yannick Alléno has selected the talented Maxime Gilbert as the ‘Chef de Cuisine’ to execute his quarterly creations as well as Florian Cousteau to run the restaurant’s pastry kitchen and ‘library’. Both chefs, despite being under 30 years of age, have close to 20 years of experience between the two of them. Having started working at the young age of 16, Gilbert has worked both in Yannick’s Royal Mansour Marrakech Hotel and the 3 Michelin-starred, Le Meurice in Paris. Cousteau, at the age of 24, is the youngest pastry chef in Beijing and he comes from roughly 10 years of experience working with the famed Pierre Hermé in Paris.

The S.T.A.Y. Duo: Florian Cousteau (left) and Maxime Gilbert

Brian Chan, the designer of S.T.A.Y. Beijing incorporates the restaurants community table concept into the ambiance, with large tables and tasteful lazy-susans to allow for easy access to the shared foods. At the far end of the big and open, yet cozy restaurant lies a ‘pastry library’ to showcase Cousteau’s delightful desserts and to allow visitors easy browsing during the brunch dessert buffet. Further, S.T.A.Y. incorporates other aspects of Chinese dining culture, indirectly helping attract Chinese clientele, such as chopsticks. After asking Gilbert about using these beautifully crafted Yannick Alléno chopsticks to eat his foods, he mentioned that the chopstick is the most universal utensil, as it allows one to eat the most of delicate of dishes.

S.T.A.Y.’s Community Table

A view of the restaurant

And one of the bar

As for the meal itself, there was a continual serving of plates from the kitchen that were perfectly cooked, seasoned and presented. A few highlights included the canapé of a fresh, cold and crispy red radish dipped in a melted butter, similar to how a strawberry would be coated in chocolate, with a sea salt garnish. Amongst others, was a delicious breaded and deep fried gougeonette fish served with a homemade tartar sauce. After the refreshing starter, came my personal favorite, a sea urchin shell filled with sour cream, quail eggs cooked in a ‘bain marie,’ or water bath, and then topped with Shrencki caviar. Together, these ingredients combined for a perfect mouth-feel; it was savory, yet sweet, but also smooth from the custard and textured from the caviar. Presented neatly in the perfect spherical shell with a rounded hole in the top, this dish alone deserves three thumbs up. Of course I cannot forget the seared Scallops en meurette and the lamb saddle. Although having never acquired a taste for scallops, I must admit it is rare for me to try a scallop that has been cooked to perfection to avoid the often times rubbery and tirelessly, chewy shellfish, but Gilbert’s was one. Further, his lamb saddle was presented in a manner paralleling service at the finest of steakhouses. Plated solo, the lamb came with a variety of garnishes included, potatoes puree, sautéed spinach and mushroom, potatoes as well as a vegetable gratin.

The variety of canapés

Sea Urchin, Quail Egg + Caviar

Last, but certainly not least, was the grand finale of the meal: a meter long dessert tray. As my eyes bulged at this enormous mountain of sweets, Gilbert noted “you sign a contract when you order the meter, you eat the meter.” Atop the long, metal ribbon sat a plethora of treats from cheesecake + strawberry balls coated with white chocolate and almond chips, a cocoa-coconut banana that consisted of a caramelized banana laying on a bed of chocolate with Malibu-infused coconut mouse, and a pink macaroon biscuit with strawberry sauce, fresh ruby red grapefruit slices with a vanilla custard. Just to name a few, Cousteau’s delectable creations were “not too sweet, yet light. You can eat the full dessert after a big menu…you wont feel like eating a big brioche,” but you do want a bit of sweetness to round out the pallet. Although Cousteau clearly has a talent with his flours and sugars, butters and creams, he says his secret is, “I put all my love inside my desserts.”

The mouth watering dessert meter

Macaroon, ruby red grapefruit + strawberry dessert

Passion fruit sorbet + chocolate mouse dessert

Still in its first year, Gilbert feels that “you really need to spend one year first to understand the seasons and the produce. We know the seasons of the produce in France, but every country is not really the same.” Both Gilbert and Cousteau are dedicated to incorporating the freshest of local and international products, importing from around the world, but strangely only lemons from the US. Despite finding it challenging at times to have their high-quality, food import standards in Beijing, they welcome the task at hand and find it to be a learning experience; one that parallels opening a fine dining restaurant, yet ‘casual’ by their notions, in the lesser developed ‘foodie’ environment of Beijing.

Been given a sneak peak to the new summer menu, I highly recommend that one visits to taste the new duck foie gras terrine with passion fruit and coffee jelly as well as their black pepper Wagyu beef filet served with gratin dauphinois. I further suggest a weekend brunch visit so to browse Cousteau’s dessert library, which is staffed by a team of six, so to participate in the dessert making process yourself. But if that isn’t reason enough to make the trip to Western Beijing, just west of the zoo, Gilbert + Cousteau have kindly offered JingDaily readers a free dessert upon their next meal; all that is needed is to mention ‘dessert’ + ‘JingDaily’.

Florian Cousteau hard at work in his dessert library

Both Gilbert and Cousteau were refreshingly welcoming given their all-star status of heading Alléno’s Beijing location. It is surprising, and somewhat shameful that they were not included in Timeout Beijing’s 2012 food awards, as I find the dynamic duo to create a fresh and innovative menu rivaling that of Maison Boulud; their presentation alone is truly a work of art. Yet with that being said, the chefs at Boloud and Migas, another upscale eatery in Sanlitun’s Nali Patio, are of the closest of friends with Gilbert and Cousteau. The two would even call Maison Boulud to be one of their favorite restaurants in Beijing, amongst DinTaiFung, Migas and of couse, S.T.A.Y.

It is clear that the young team has slowly found their groove despite having spent less than a year in Beijing and I can only imagine the tasteful creations the two will contrive over the years to come.

Categories Beijing, Food, Fresh Ingredients, Restaurants

Nana Comes to Beijing

May 5, 2012 //

This past weekend, I had the wonderful surprise of my Nana visiting me in Beijing. Having traveled solo from Los Angeles to Xiamen, the town in Southern China where she was born, and then to Beijing, my hip 86 year old grandmother and I had an amazing few days. I must say, it was really a special treat to have my Chinese grandmother, who contributes to my ‘Chinese half,’ visit me in the country that was once her home and now is one that I call home myself.

The weekend consisted of a plethora of activities including meeting the artists whom I work for, having dinner with my boyfriend at my favorite Pure Lotus and a dumpling lunch with some of her local friends, browsing the 798 arts district, pampering ourselves with manicures + pedicures, visiting a local market and cooking dinner together, and of course, shopping for goodies that are only to be found in China. Filled with laughs and stories, I will remember those few days for decades to come. But knowing how young and able she is, I will most likely be paid another visit by this inspiring and wise woman during the time that I call Beijing home.