Beijing Boyce

Time is running out to vote in this year’s City Weekend Reader Choice Awards, which covers the Beijing dining and nightlife scenes. According to the magazine, there are close races in several categories. To cast your vote, go here.

Eight is a lucky number in China, so for each of the 88 days until the 2008 Olympics, I will strip-mine my brain to unearth a thought related to Beijing and The Games. That’s one thought per brain cell. It’s called teamwork, people!

Thought 2 of 88

Back in mid-January, I wrote that the Olympics payoff for bars in Sanlitun depended on several “whether or not” scenarios. I repeat them briefly below in italics, with an update on what has happened in the four months since that post.

Whether or not bars and clubs in Tongli Studio and its environs, just west of the main Sanlitun strip, remain open. Numerous Tongli bars faced short-term closures this year, with fire safety code violations being the usual reason given. The area in the nearby streets is associated in many people’s minds with seediness.

The four Pure Girl bars were shut down during a substantial police raid early last month and remain closed. Also of note, in late February the China Daily reported that six establishments at Workers’ Stadiums’ north end will close during the Olympics for security reasons.

Whether or not the strip of mostly copy-cat bars on the east side of Sanlitun’s main strip will be open. This is where wandering male visitors hear “lady bar, sexy girl”, almost everyone hears “DVD, DVD” (from touts) and “money, money” (from beggars), and the average spot features chairs out front, a live band inside, and what I consider overpriced beer.

There has been no drop in the number of “lady bar” touts, nor any sign that anything is other than “business as usual” here. That includes the long-standing feud between the owners (and their security guards) of that monstrous building just off the strip and the construction workers who built it, whose plight is explained in writing in the windows of a van parked nearby.

Whether or not new establishments are open and ready to go – many places in the new Nali Studio, beside the 3.3 Building, are behind schedule. This ranges from Ciro’s, which was supposed to open last year, to Project H20, which predicted opening one floor by last week, but is far from doing so.

Ciro’s and The Saddle Cantina have since opened, while Muse looks close to being done. I have been unable to get an opening date out of those involved with Project H2O. Most of the new Nali Studio, however, remains empty. Both China Doll in Sanlitun and Klubb Rouge in China View, near the Workers’ Stadium, should be open within a month. Speaking of China View, there are now more than a dozen food and beverage outlets there.

Whether or not a makeshift bar area will open.

No evidence of this so far.

Whether or not the government controls entry to Sanlitun.

Nor of this.

Previously
Thought 1: If they build it, we may come

My truest test of which wines are “good value” to me is whether or not I buy them or recommend them to friends and readers. I have done so many times with wines such as Grace Vineyard Chardonnay (RMB60/Torres) and Heartland Shiraz (RMB150 / Palette) – I find the first good for those who want to try a Chinese wine and the second good for those in need of a bottle to take to a friend’s house. I also recommend many other wines to friends and readers, from the Gruner Veltliner at Cafe Europa to some of the offerings at this year’s Palette and GELIPU-Winelink portfolio tastings.

I am updating that list to include the French wines selected by Alain Leroux (a contributor to this blog) and available at the Guanghua Road and Sanlitun North branches of Sequoia Café.

I doubt you will find better-value French wine in Beijing than the five-entry level bottles – Vale Viognier 2006, Vale Merlot 2006, Vale Syrah 2006, Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and Louxor Chardonnay 2006. All of them hail from Languedoc Roussilon and cost a paltry RMB65 per bottle. Numerous people, including two wine distributors, told me the Viognier offers especially good value.

I also like the slightly more expensive Domaine Des Oliviers Cotes Du Rhone 2006 at RMB100 and the Chateau Ayraud Corbieres 2004 at RMB134 (60 percent Grenache, 40 percent Syrah).

Leroux worked with winemaker Jean Berteau, based in France, to pick about two dozens wines to bring to China, and these have been categorized into “full-bodied whites”, “smooth reds”, “big reds” and so on at Sequoia Cafe to make things easier for the consumer.

As I shuffled the street pre-coffee one recent morning, my synapses fired briefly and inspired this thought – if someone asked me to suggest places in my Sanlitun-Workers Stadium hood to grab a cup of java, what would they be? Off the top of my head, here are four picks. (By the way, I’m no coffee expert, so if anyone has other recommendations, let me know and I’ll give them a try.)

Le Petit Gourmand’s American coffee (RMB15) – a good-value beverage served in a glass with a handle and space for the spoon, thus saving every fifth diner from knocking their utensil to the floor. (LPG is a good place to chill, as long as the staff doesn’t play that CD of “What’s Going On?” remixes.)

Cafe St Laurent Cappuccino (RMB30) – this weekend brunch favorite gets marks for size and frothiness. Check this video of a sugar cube slowly disappearing into the lather like a… uh… uh… a stunned mastodon sinking inch by inch into the murky-molasses-thick depths of a foamy Pleistocene swamp a sugar cube slowly disappearing into the lather.

Revelations’ Lavazza coffee (from RMB8 10) – diners can tag this ridiculously low-priced beverage on to their equally wallet-positive set lunch (they start at ~RMB30 38).

Sequoia Cafe’s large American Coffee (RMB22) – a sizable mug of coffee from a micro-roaster in the U.S. that nicely washes down this place’s BLT. The staff is friendly here, though the disproportionate number of hard surfaces means it can get noisy. [Note: The Sanlitun Sequoia has closed; the other branches are on Guanghua Lu and in Shunyi.]

For those looking to enjoy the great outdoors, Aperitivo (you can watch the street life), Le Bistrot Parisienne (ditto), Les Tour des Jour (ditto II, though this place tends to blast music) and The Bookworm (a spacious rooftop) are other options.

The Emperor Hotel announced today that it will hold a “donation marathon” from May 13 to May 16 and give all income from its Yin Bar to the Red Cross Society of China for earthquake relief in Sichuan. (The bar offers a stunning view that includes The Forbidden City.) The hotel will hold a charity dinner at its restaurant Shi on March 16. (Call 6523-6877 for more information.)

Join The Verse, Rando(m), Sand, IC Girlband and “special guests” for a fund-raiser at Mao Live House on May 14. The show starts at 8:30 PM; entry is RMB50. (Call 6402-5080 for more information.)

Eight is a lucky number in China, so for each of the 88 days until the 2008 Olympics, I will strip-mine my brain to unearth a thought related to Beijing and The Games. That’s one thought per brain cell. It’s called teamwork, people!

Thought 1 of 88

Imagine a job where being a month, two months, or even a year behind schedule on your work projects is the norm, not the exception. And where you don’t get fired for it.

Welcome to the Beijing bar scene!

While the city by-and-large has its Olympics infrastructure on track, quite a few bars, clubs, and restaurants are stuck in the starting blocks despite (apparently) having piles of cash, loads of guanxi, and more “concepts” in their designer pockets than there are loogies on a Sunday morning Sanlitun sidewalk.

Seriously, how can a humble consumer such as yours truly enjoy “sophistication“, “exclusivity” and “lifestyle development”, sample the best from “London“, “New York”, and elsewhere, and “go to the next level” – things promised by some (not all) of these places – if they don’t open? It’s as if some owners are dangling a mustard-glazed Nantes carrot painstakingly prepared in Old World style by a leading European chef in an exclusively sophisticated high-end boutique establishment that uniquely, modernly and fashionably fuses East and West together in Beijing in front of us.

Here are some places I have followed and their most recent slated opening dates – there may be earlier dates of which I am unaware. (An asterisk denotes a place that is already open.)

* Ciro’s Pomodoro in New Nali (December, early March)
* The Saddle Cantina in New Nali (March 15, March 27)
* 1949: The Hidden City (March 31, April 1)
Project H20 in New Nali (Chinese New Year, April 24, ?, July 2)
Legation Quarter near Tiananmen (fall 2007, spring 2008, mid-May)
China Doll in the 3.3 building (mid-May, June)
Klubb Rouge on Gongti East (May, June)
Opposite House in Sanlitun (before now, probably in July)
Capital M in Qianmen (before the Olympics, just after the Olympics, 2009?)
Blue Frog in Sanlitun / Shunyi (end-May/early June; more likely a bit later)

(And just so I can play along at home:

* Olympics Thoughts 1-88 (May 12, May 13))

Some places no doubt have legitimate reasons for not opening on time – this isn’t always an easy city for bar and restaurant owners to do business, especially in the case of some of the larger projects. But perhaps some of these same places would do well to turn down the hyperbole a few notches. Finally, I realize this list isn’t comprehensive and other places also remain far behind schedule – Park Hyatt, anyone?

Street eats: several readers have recently asked about where to get Beijing’s best. I put the question to one of the city’s biggest foodies: Pam Shookman, dining editor of Time Out. Here’s what she had to say.

“Beijing street food is a perfect example of the Chinese term yue lai, yue shao – as time passes there is less and less. It used to be possible to wander along the streets and easily find noodle stalls with a few tables and jianbing makers turning their griddle on the back of a bicycle cart. No longer.

“The Wangfujing xiao chi shi chang (little-eats street) and night market off Wangfujing are dreadful despite the crowds they attract. If cicadas and scorpions are your thing, then by all means go, but otherwise neither market offers anything worth the journey.

“You’ll have a better meal eating mutton kebabs from the various itinerant vendors around the city. Most makers of jianbing (a huge crepe folded around fried dough and smothered in sauces) are now found in permanent stalls such as the one on the northeast corner of Jiaodaokou Nandajie and Dianmen Dongdajie or in the Dongzhimenwai Bus Station.

“Last time I was on my bicycle around the northwest corner of Houhai around Deshengmen Nei Dajie, there was some serious street food action with all sorts of bing (flat breads) and baozi (stuffed buns) being sold. I usually find that the poorer areas of town have the best street food.

“Street food is generally better outside Beijing. The best street food I’ve ever eaten in China was at the night market in Kaifeng, Henan province, a market eleven hundred years old and still going strong. What by day is a nondescript street and sidewalk turns into an eating fun fair at night, jam-packed with stalls selling everything from xiaolongbao to kebabs to heavy stews served in iron pots, all made on the spot from fresh ingredients. Customers vie for the tables and stools that vendors set up near their stalls. Beer vendors will deliver either a bottle or a case to your table. Once you eat the fantastic Kaifeng street food, you won’t settle for anything less.

A little jianbing action in Beijing.

Plastered T-Shirts marks its second anniversary this Friday in Nanluoguxiang with two DJs, a VJ, and Shed Simove (of Big Brother fame) doing stand-up comedy. Donations to the Magic Hospital welcomed. The party gets started this Friday at 7:30 PM. This is a good chance to enjoy the weather and patronize Salud, 12SQM, and other area bars. (See also: Getting Plastered on a ‘hutong catwalk’)

Meanwhile, regular reader 8 Songs reminds that Stone Boat‘s “Tunes in the Park” will feature the Beijing return of his compatriots, folk musicians Jane Germain and Ian Simpson, tonight from 9:30 PM. (Germain’s most recent album is called Chinese Whispers and was recorded with Mongolian band / local scene-sters Hanggai).

“Ben Foster loves Preston North End“, “Ben Foster [heart] PNE,” “Ben Foster [this]” and “Ben Foster [that].

So state the toilet walls in several bars in Sanlitun. This raises for me questions that ranks up there with “Does life exist on other planets?”, “What really swims beneath the waves of Lake Khovsgol?” and “Why do I feel like having a breath mint every time I see the National Aquatics Center?”

Namely, “Who is this Ben, from whence comes his PNE love, and why is it being communicated above the urinals of our fair city?”

Upcoming Beijing wine-related events

Thursday, May 8, 7-9 PM, Med (Block 8), RMB100
Ladies Wine Club, with Italian wines and five-course meal; contact Kristen at lum.kristen@gmail.com.

Thursday, May 8, 7-8:30 PM, Amigo (Central Park), free
Chilean wine festival, with 16 wines, by Top Cellar; RSVP with Cedric at marketing@topcellar.com.cn / 13439-467-514.

Thursday, May 8, 7 PM, Prego (Westin Financial Street), RMB100 preregistered / RMB120 at door
Kim Crawford tasting, by ASC; RSVP at 6587-3808, x200.

Friday, May 9, 6:30 PM, Sequoia Cafe (Sanlitun), RMB 150
Pinot Noir tasting, with 4 wines and food; RSVP with Frank at 13701-178-073.

Thursday, May 15, 7:30 PM, Bookworm, RMB180
Australian wine tasting, 6 wines from 3 regions, by The Wine Republic; RSVP at 5869-7050 /  events@thewinerepublic.com.

Friday, May 16, 7-8:30 PM, Bento & Berries (Kerry Centre Hotel), free
Henry Bourgeois wine tasting, by Top Cellar; RSVP with Cedric at marketing@topcellar.com.cn / 13439-467-514.

Thursday, May 22, 7 PM, Cafe Europa, RMB180
Pinot Noir / Sauvignon Blanc tasting, by ASC; RSVP at 6587-3808, x200.

Thursday, May 22, 7 PM, Summer Palace (China World), RMB2008
“Road to Beijing” wine dinner and charity auction, 8 Chinese food-French wine pairings; auction of sports art and memorabilia (part of proceeds to Care for Children); RSVP at 6505-5838.

Friday, May 23, 7 PM, Aria, RMB1288
Guigal wine dinner, with the winery’s E. Guigal, by ASC; RSVP at 6587-3808, x200.

Saturday, May 24, Great Wall of China, RMB15888
Robert Parker wine dinner, by ASC; food by Blu Lobster; 8 wines rated 94+ by Parker; RSVP with Adam Steinberg at adamsteinberg@asc-wines.com.

Tuesday, May 28, 7 PM, Blu Lobster, RMB988
Alain Chabanon wine dinner, with winery owner Alain Chabanon, by East Meets West; RSVP with Blu Lobster (8882-6727) or EMW (6445-5797).

Friday, May 30, 7-8:30 PM, Bento & Berries (Kerry Centre Hotel), free
Deutz Champagne tasting, by Top Cellar; RSVP with Cedric at marketing@topcellar.com.cn / 13439-467-514.

Note: To get a wine event listed, send event information, preferably in text format, to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.

By Jim Boyce

I joined Marc Curtis of China Wine Tours on March 24 for a visit to Chateau Bolongbao, just outside of Beijing. Curtis will bring his first tour group from the United States to China in October, with the planned itinerary including Beijing, Xian, Shanxi, Xinjiang, and Shanghai. Here are some photos from the visit, led by the winery’s Tang Jie.

A view of Chateau Bolongbao from the gate.

Given that Beijing winters can be quite cold, these vines are buried beneath 35-40 centimeters of soil in the fall and then uncovered in the spring.

A hilltop view of Bolongbao, which we were told produced its first Bordeaux-style wine in 2003.

This facility is being built next door to Bolongbao by a farmers collective and, from what I gathered, will make non-grape fruit wines.

Professor of Agriculture Zou Fulin (second left), with (from left) China Wine Tour’s Judy Zhao and Marc Curtis, and the winery’s Tang Jie. Zou says he knows Italian, French, Australian and American wine styles, and prefers Bordeaux.

Production for 2005, 2006, and 2007 was 110,000, 88,000, and 110,000 bottles respectively, says Zou.

Bolongbao uses oak barrels from France and the United States.

This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (75%), Merlot (20%), and Cabernet Franc (5%). We tried it decanted for 40 minutes. The body was clean, with some cherry and clove aromas, though I found it a bit oak-y.

“There is nothing in the flavor that turns me off,” said Curtis. “I’d be happy to serve it to people.”

The 2005 vintage is available for RMB198. Bolongbao wines are not available via retail shops, but can be ordered via the winery.

I joined six Chinese wine writers on April 26 for lunch with Chateau Latour GM Frederic Engerer. Organized by ASC at the Hyatt’s Made in China restaurant in Beijing, the event saw us try his 1995 and 2001 wines with Chinese dishes, including Beijing duck, and discuss Chateau Latour in particular and the wine industry in general. I asked him three things.

Has he tried any Chinese wine?

He said that regrettably he had not.

What does he think about China’s growing influence on the Bordeaux market?

He said that countries such as China are changing the customer base for Chateau Latour: “It’s going to be a different profile of customers.”

“We are not responsible for the tripling of prices,” he added. “It’s out of our hands. Our goal is to provide the best wine every year.”

What does he think of screw tops and has Latour experimented with them?

He reacted strongly to the issue of screw tops. He called them “artificial” and questioned how well wine will age with their use.

“If you make wine to drink in 18 months, then [screw tops are] wonderful,” he said, but added that corks are better for storage. “It’s not a matter of traditional versus modern. It’s understood that our wines last 50 years.”

He gave no indication that Latour had experimented with screw tops.

“Our goal is to get cork better. With screw tops, it’s a different product. They call it wine, but we don’t,” he said, and cited his displeasure with the screw top lobby.

He pointed at the wine we were drinking: “Do you want this wine touching something artificial?”

When asked about glass closures, he said that Latour used some of these with its 2000 vintage and would give the wine a try in 2010. He added that Latour used glass closures in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s.

As for the food and wine pairing, some of the initial dishes proved too spicy – particularly those from southwest China – so the “heat” was reduced for the remainder, with the Beijing duck being an OK match. On top of talking to a leading Bordeaux personality, trying new food and wine combinations added to the fun.

Note: The wines we tried were Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac, 2001; Chateau Latour Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 2001; and Chateau Latour Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 1995.

Klubb Rouge is slated to open in China View – beside the City Hotel and The Den on Gongti East – in the first half of June. I reported on the press conference held outside Beijing two weeks ago (see Surreal Saturday). Last Friday afternoon, the club’s GM, David Blais, gave me a tour of the venue.

(Note: China View has quickly filled up with more than a dozen restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries, including Red Ocean Butterflies, Pullman Steak, and Purple Haze, although I hope Bella is not serving from that half bottle of white wine it leaves outside in the sun as an inducement to enter the place.)

Klubb Rouge’s main area takes the entire fourteenth floor. Patrons leave the elevators to face a two-sided 18-meter long chrome bar and a view west toward Workers’ Stadium. This space includes high ceilings – I would peg them at seven meters – and an elevated DJ booth.

Adjoining it to the north is a sizable lounge, about the size of Q Bar, which will include a second, shorter chrome bar, fixed sofas, and free-standing furniture. A sliding door can isolate this space for functions.

The lounge has a lower ceiling, as does the VIP area above, which is essentially a second lounge with views of the bar floor below.

Overall, expect décor with deep plums, candy apple reds and gold trim along with glass and stainless steel. Blais says the six massive columns lining the club will carry images of sexy women and there will be five tons of crystal hanging above the bar.

On the south sound of Klubb Rouge, a staircase will take patrons to two private rooms – one can seat about 20 people and faces east, the other is smaller and looks down on the main club area. Above that is a large deck with yet another chrome bar and an excellent view of the city. There are two private areas on this floor.

All bathrooms are on the main floor.

The current drink plan includes 10 to 15 wines, bottled beer, and a cocktail list that includes signature drinks. There will be a strong focus on bottles of spirits.

Blais says the place aims to draw a diverse crowd of both locals and expatriates, including tourists, businesspeople, and others.

Note: To clarify from the last post. There is no business relationship between Klubb Rouge and Shanghai’s Bar Rouge, but several people who formerly worked at the latter are now involved with the former.

The Friday night tasting (RMB100) at Sequoia Café in Sanlitun two weeks ago featured Chilean wines from Terra Mater. We worked our way through a Chardonnay, Merlot, Sangiovese and Zinfandel-Shiraz and two Sauvignon Blanc. My favorites were the Terra Mater Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (dry grass and crisp fruits on the nose, and a juicy body, though some found it too acidic) and Zinfandel-Shiraz 2005 (an 85-15 percent blend with a rich fruity – plum – nose, though the body came off as weaker than expected). Both wines cost RMB143 per bottle.

Other tasters liked the Reserve Sangiovese 2006 (ample fruit and a nice mouth feel, but it smelled a bit rubbery to me). Terra Mater wines are distributed by DT Asia.

Later that night I checked into the second anniversary of Cellar Le Pinot, a tightly designed and decently stocked wine shop near the Hyatt Hotel.

Some two dozens were available for tasting (RMB50) and the shop offered a 20 percent discount on all wines.

I bought two Chinese wines I have not seen before: a bottle of “Night” by Suntime (Xinjiang) and a bottle of “Vintage” wine, which I believe is an export-only brand using grapes from Xinjiang (the back label was in French and Dutch). I’ll put these bottles into a future blind tasting.

I met bartenders George Zhou and Echo Sun shortly after arriving in Beijing in 2004 and imbibed more than my fair share of their cocktails at First Cafe and Midnight. Before they opened current venue Q Bar with partner Ralph Ziegenhorn two years ago, they gave me a tour and asked my opinion. My gut instinct: given their strong following among the city’s cocktail crowd and the challenges of dealing with a relatively large-scale bar, they should stick to drinks and forgo the staffing, safety, spoilage and other issues that come with a kitchen.

It seems they had the same idea: Q Bar, save for the nightly peanuts and the food at special events, has remained a liquid zone… until now.

The bar recently introduced a food menu of just over a dozen items and O-Zone and I went into guinea pig mode last Tuesday night to give it a taste test.

Prunes wrapped in bacon (RMB40): a dozen of these “little devils” comes on a tray with – fancy schmancy – a cloth serviette. They are tasty but might be even better with something a bit sharper to offset the prunes’ sweetness and bacon’s greasiness. George had another batch made topped with Parmesan, but I’m thinking blue cheese.

Chicken kebabs with guacamole (RMB50): about a dozen individual nuggets on sticks, with ample guacamole (so much we couldn’t eat it all). Tasty again, and – while guacamole is a personal thing – another option is an extra squeeze of lemon and shake of salt.

Sandwich plate (RMB50): this came with: 1) chicken salad and homemade mayonnaise on rye, which was fresh and had a nice texture, and 2) turkey, Camembert and raspberry jam on what looked like 20-percent whole wheat bread.

For another take on the food, check this post.

By the way, it isn’t on the menu, but last summer – fruit permitting – it was possible to get dragon fruit margaritas at Q Bar. It’s worth a try.