Beijing Boyce

Imagine five times bigger - and with stuffing.

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On every Thanksgiving and Christmas during my four years in China, a thought has popped into my head: What if a Beijing duck restaurant cooked turkeys instead?

It looks like I will finally get a step close to the answer. Yesterday, I met Da Dong, the GM of Beijing Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant, and he granted my wish to stick a turkey in one of his fireplaces. This is about him being generous rather than any plans to add this meat to the menu, and talking to him made me realize a few things need to be decided:

• The size of the turkey: Two kilograms of duck take about an hour to roast, so how big to go with the bird?
• The coating: Da Dong ducks have a honey lacquer, but perhaps a Canadian touch - some maple syrup - is in order.
• The intensity of the fire: This is related to the fat content of the bird.
• The stuffing: I’m thinking a traditional bread blend but with a local twist - some crushed instant noodles (I imagine the latter soaking up all that turkey juice).
• The serving: Ideally, both Beijing duck style, i.e. with wraps, spring onion, plum sauce, et al., as well as Western style, with cranberry substituted as a sauce.

Decisions, decisions… If any amateur or professional chefs out have advice in the lead-up to Project Gobble, please leave a comment or drop me a line at beijingboyce@yahoo.com.

Big props to chef Brian McKenna and assistant Lisa Zhao of Room, slated to open in March, for their help in making this a reality.

(Photo: Caozitou)

One of the best Beijing wine events of the year - The Hilton Food & Wine Experience - is tomorrow (Saturday) from 5 to 8 PM. With hundreds of wines available to sample as well as tea, coffee, chocolate, cheese, and more, the eleventh annual edition of this event should again offer excellent value at RMB230. For trade people, it will unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately - be a busy one as the UGC Bordeaux event is being held the same day. Other upcoming events include a fund-raiser by Beijing Wine Club and an “all star” Bordeaux dinner by ASC. (For the long-term look, check this events page.)

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Friday-Saturday, November 29-30, 10:30 AM-7:30 PM, Kerry Center Shop (B37)
Montrose half-price sale; by Montrose wines; for more info, call 8529-9494.

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Saturday, November 29, Hilton, 5-8 PM, RMB230
Food & Wine Experience XI, by Beijing Hilton; tasting with hundreds of wines, plus food, coffee, tea, chocolate, cheese, and water; 5865-5125 or here for details (open to trade from 11 AM-8 PM).

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Saturday, November 29, 7 PM, Grand Hyatt, RMB1288
Bordeaux GCC ‘All-Star’ Wine Dinner, with wines and owners from Chateau La Gurgue, Chateau Citran, Chateau Chasse-Spleen, Chateau Camensac, Chateau Haut Bages Liberal, Chateau Gruaud Larose, and Chateau Ferriere; by ASC; RSVP with Helen Lu at eventsbj@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803.

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Saturday, November 29, 5-6 PM, Pinotage, RMB60
Weekly tasting; by WineLink; RSVP with Chris at 13611-207-396 / chrisb@winelink.com.cn.

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Monday, December 1, 7 PM, Palette Vino (5 Dongsi Shiyitiao branch), RMB121
AIDS fund-raiser; with five wines; by Beijing Wine Club; for more info, call 6585-3099.

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Wednesday, December 3, 7-10 PM, Domus, RMB228
Monthly ladies’ wine tasting; with five wines and dinner; RSVP with Emily Chin at 8511-8015 / emily.chin@domusrestaurant.com

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Wednesday, December 3, 6:30 PM, L’Isola (Pacific Century Place), RMB688
Alois Lageder wine dinner, by ASC; RSVP with Helen Lu at eventsbj@asc-wines.com or 6587-3803.

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Note: See the long-term schedule. If you intend to attend any of the above events, it is best to confirm the details with the venue ahead of time. To get an event listed, send the details to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.

Seeking some Christmas spirit?

The St. Regis Hotel will hold its eleventh annual tree lighting ceremony from 6 to 7:30 PM tonight. Enjoy beverages, snacks, and, for those who have been nice or who have been naughty and want to beg their case, a visit from the man in red - that would be Santa Claus. For more info to RSVP, call 6460-6688, x2431 / x2306.

We first we drink the Tannat, then we drink the Zin.

The annual Hilton Food & Wine Experience is this Saturday and my final contest features tickets to the event as well as a deluxe room and breakfast in the hotel.

The question: If you could share a bottle of wine with anyone, who would it be, and why? From the elevator guy to Leonard Cohen (above), from grandpa to Angelina Jolie, readers suggested a wide range of prospective drinking partners.

But there can only be one winner three winners, so Fredrik Janson of Vandergeeten Beijing witnessed the draw and pulled the lucky names. The winners of two tickets to the Hilton Food & Wine Experience:

- Jules

- Mr. Brau

The winner of two tickets to Food & Wine Experience, a deluxe room, including wine and cheese upon arrival, and breakfast for two the next morning at Elements:

- Vivek

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to the Hilton and to everyone who entered. For more information about the Food & Wine Experience, see here and here. It should be a good one.

Culinary Capers, co-sponsor with The Wine Republic of the Turkey Time contest, says the first seating for tomorrow’s turkey dinner at Sequoia Cafe is sold out, but about 20 spots remain for the seating that starts at 8 PM (see here).

The Boat has announced a free Thanksgiving dinner and lunch - that’s from noon to 2 PM and 6 to 9 PM - with “turkey, sandwiches, pizza, salads, soups, burgers, pasta, French fries, and other assorted snacks. Party Punch – included.” The ensuing party features DJ Stinky Eyes (it’s from cutting the onions, I bet) and DJ Assassin Eyes playing alternative dance music.

SALT presents a five-course meal that includes salad, tortellini, choice of beef tenderloin, turkey breast, pecan-crusted salmon, or mushroom risotto, a choice of desserts, with a pumpkin pie option, and more (RMB288). For details or to RSVP, see here.

For a bunch of other Thanksgiving events, see here.

Marie Gerner, daughter of Drei Kronen 1308 brew master Hans Gerner, did the honors of picking the winner for the Turkey Time contest, in which people let us know what they are thankful for in Beijing. The prize is turkey and all the fixings for six from Culinary Capers, which is handling Thanksgiving dinner at Sequoia Café on Thursday, and a bottle of Yering Station E.D. Pinot Noir 2006 from The Wine Republic. And the winner is:

Glenderful!

Thanks to Marie for drawing the winner, to Culinary Capers and The Wine Republic for providing the prize, and to everyone who participated.

It might be game finito for Italian joint Frantoi Celliti after only a few months on the scene. An email by the owner to customers cited problems ranging from personal threats to inconsistent power and water supplies, and said matters are being taken up in court. Added to this, the place faced the combined challenges of scale (a seating capacity of about 150), location (a hard-to-find warehouse area on Sanlitun South), and marketing (promo emails sent with the subject lines in Italian only).

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Klubb Rouge has figured out what the rest of us have known for six months: the drinks cost too much. Though I’m not sure the right move is to go from RMB70-80 signature cocktails to all-you-can-drink for RMB158 (9 PM-2 AM, Sunday to Thursday) or RMB198 (9 PM-3AM, Friday and Saturday).

By the way, does anyone find the woman featured in the Klubb Rouge poster sexy? Frankly, that undernourished opium addict / vampire look is like so over for me. Plus, clothing that provides the coverage of dental floss doesn’t do it when the temperature dips below zero. At least add a scarf. And a toque.

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Friday ladies night is drawing large crowds at TUN though the last one saw some non-lady like behavior as a cat fight broke out near the bar. With gratis booze for the fairer sex from PM to midnight, methinks the attitude has steadily and weekly gone from excitement to entitlement. Still, if I were under 30 and single, it’s hard to imagine a better Friday night stop these days…

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File this one under I Did Not Know That: 1/5 bar, part of the 1949: The Hidden City complex, is closed on Sundays, though the other venues, including Sugar, Noodle Bar, 1/5 Taverna, and Duck de Chine are open.

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Last but not least, St. Regis Hotel held its official reopening party last Friday night with a full-on dinner in the ballroom. The best course? The cocktail reception featuring some of the St. Regis’ Bloody Mary range. Each hotel has a signature drink: For Beijing, it is the “Great Wall”, a blend of Tsingtao, Bloody Mary mix, and lime, while for Shanghai, it is vodka, Bloody Mary mix, soy sauce and Szechuan ground pepper (with a foam of vodka, white rice liquor, sugar syrup, and pear and cucumber chunks). Frankly, this is one world tour I would like to take…

Rome: Vodka, Bloody Mary mix, hot pepper powder, basil leaves, oregano, and extra virgin olive oil…

Washington: Gin, Bloody Mary mix, horseradish, clam juice, lemon juice, and seasoning, with a shrimp garnish…

Singapore… Actually, I’ll stop now: It’s not healthy to have such thoughts on a Monday.

By the way, accredited journalist get a 50-percent discount on drinks at the St. Regis’ Press Club Bar.

Thai food joint Pink Loft is upping its stakes and moving to the former site of Revelations / Browns. As the chefs moped outside of the now-closed Sanlitun South spot last night, someone in management cited a proposed rent increase as the cause for closure and told me the new venue should be open in two weeks. The move puts Hot Loft beside Pink Loft…

Will Danger Boy play "The Wall" on The Wall?

“Danger Boy“, winner of the Name That TUN contest, takes to the Great Wall DJ booth this Saturday night at 10 PM to do his eighties set. In addition to DJ DB spinning tunes, the night includes:

Acupuncture DJ Weng Weng rocking the joint with a 90-minute set that covers the 70s and 80s, from funk to disco.

Eighty-kuai shooter racks (12 per rack), three Strait cocktails for RMB40, Strait vodka shots for RMB20, and Strait bottles for RMB800.

As Chad Lager of TUN says, that last item “is part of the theme: it includes ‘80′ plus a zero.” It’s all about marketing, people!

First, football: According to management, The Goose and Duck will show the 96th annual Grey Cup, pitting the Calgary Stampeders against the Montreal Alouettes, on Monday morning at 7 AM. The Grey Cup is the finale of Canadian football, a sport that differs from its American counterpart by being faster and involving more thermal underwear. For those seeking a beverage theme for the morning, fellow Canuck Peter Puck last night suggested Crown Royal and ginger, which he claims is also known as Winnipeg Champagne. I will update this page on Sunday night with any additional info on the Grey Cup screening.

Next, hockey: I visited Paddy O’Shea’s yesterday morning and saw part of an NHL game with this Irish pub’s owner Glenn Phelan. We had choppy reception at times, but this is nevertheless preferable to no game at all. Glenn says he can get a live game every Saturday morning and I’ll soon have more details on what else is available. I also visited Goose and Duck last night and owner John Harkness said the place is getting closer to having the sling-box feed working for HNIC.

I realize management at both places wants to make sure: 1) reception is perfect, so 2) patrons won’t moan and grown and demand freebies. Solution: Add a disclaimer that “signal is not guaranteed” and those who cannot accept this should either stay home or shut their keg holes. In cases where reception cuts out, have one of the following cued up: Slapshot, the 2002 Winter Olympics gold medal game, the 1987 Canada Cup, the 1972 Summit Series, an edition of Rock ‘Em Sock Em Hockey, or even The Miracle on Ice.

We have over a dozen entries in the contest for a turkey dinner for six, courtesy of Culinary Capers, which is cooking this year’s Thanksgiving meal at Sequoia Cafe, and a bottle of Yering Station Pinot Noir, courtesy of The Wine Republic. To get in the draw, go here and tell us one thing you are thankful for in Beijing. The deadline for entries is tomorrow at 3 PM. See here for more details on the contest and the Sequoia dinner. I’m also working on a post about places that offer Thanksgiving dinner specials - running a bit behind this week!

I consider the annual Hilton Food & Wine Experience a “must attend” event because I can pick and choose among hundreds of wines, chat with fellow wine consumers and talk to experts, indulge myself at the buffet, and generally have a superb time for a reasonable price (RMB230). But each year, as the clock winds down on a fun afternoon, I wish I didn’t have to leave.

This year, one lucky reader will stay - overnight - as the Hilton is upping the experience with a prize package for this November 29 event. The package includes:

- Two tickets to the eleventh Food & Wine Experience, which includes a wide range of foods and wines to sample.

- A deluxe room, including wine and cheese upon arrival.

- Breakfast for two the next morning at Elements, to ensure recovery from your gastronomic adventure.

To enter the draw, simply go to the comments section and answer this question: If you could share a bottle of wine with anyone in the world, who would it be, and why? (Hmm, isn’t Kylie Minogue in town that weekend?).

Two pairs of tickets to the Hilton Food & Wine Experience are up for grabs as runner-up prizes.

For more information on this event, see here and here.

Note: The deadlines for entries is next Tuesday, November 25 at 3 PM.

Look for the Beida branch of pizza joint Kro’s Nest to quadruple to nearly 600 square meters over the next few months. The place will add pool tables and a DJ booth to give students especially a bigger place to party.

Look also for some changes to the menu, with a new wings list and something Kro describe as as Brie baozi.

Olas Tapas and Cafe, a spin-off of Mare, is open in Sanlitun Village: You’ll find it on the west side facing Yashow and near Stone Cold Creamery.

Expect the same tapas choices and prices as at Mare as well as mix and match pastas and sauces (RMB55) and a build your own salad option (RMB28 for the base, RMB10 for each extra item). Those ordering a bottle of wine (from RMB178) can have it converted to Sangria for RMB38. Beer is reasonably priced, with Tsingtao at RMB15 and Mahou, Corona, Heineken, and Carlsberg at RMB20. Coffee starts at RMB20.

The layout is from the Element Fresh school of design, though Olas is smaller. One half consists of a long bar, with about 20 seats, and five tables for four. The other is dedicated to table and bench seating, with space for about 50. The decor is heavy on oranges (the pillows, seat covers, place mats, and abstract art) and creams, with touches of marble and mirrors. The place comes off as a bit cold, but should become warmer as it acquires character.

I stopped for coffee and to do a bit of work today. I found the wireless signal strong, the coffee decent, and the ambiance pleasant, though the more sensitive among the laptop crowd will want to bring an iPod given that this cafe is bound to draw noisy shoppers from Yashow.

The major drawback: No toilet. You’ll need to go outside, around the corner, and hoof it to the second floor.

Midnight marked the official release of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau and a slew of related events is slated for the next few days - see my list from earlier this week (even Beer Mania is getting in on the act and will hold a party tonight from 8:30 PM). The next week will also see a wine dinner at Aria with legend Angelo Gaja and a Zinfandel tasting at Sequoia Cafe. Here’s the lineup. (For the Beaujolais Nouveau events or a longer-term schedule, see this events page.)

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Friday, November 21, St. Regis, 7 PM, RMB650
China Food and Wine Tour; northern Chinese cuisines with Beringer wines; with Jerry Comfort, food and wine educator from Beringer; by ASC; RSVP with Helen Lu at eventsbj@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803.

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Friday, November 21, 6:30 PM, Sequoia Cafe, RMB120
Zinfindel tasting, with five wines, including one Primitivo; RSVP via E-vite; to get on the list, call Frank Siegel at 13701-178-073.

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Saturday, November 22, 5-6 PM, Pinotage, RMB60
Weekly tasting; by WineLink; RSVP with Chris at 13611-207-396 / chrisb@winelink.com.cn.

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Monday, November 24, 7 PM, Aria (China World), RMB4888
Gaja Wine Dinner, with winemaker Angelo Gaja and 10 wines; by ASC; RSVP with Helen Lu at eventsbj@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803.

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Note: If you intend to attend any of the above events, it is best to confirm the details with the venue ahead of time. To get a wine event listed, send event info to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.

I know Beijing is generally getting more expensive, but I had a couple of bottles of Brooklyn IPA last night during TUN’s open mic session for RMB20. Total. That would be RMB10 each. I’m guessing you can’t get this beer in Brooklyn that cheap. Just saying…

Last week, I wrote that Kebab Nation in Tongli Studio had been emptied and I was unsure as to whether the place faced closure or refurbishment. Kebab fans can breath easier: It is the latter.

In the same building, Second Floor is now a third option for those who like the pizza but not the ambiance of The Tree. You can sip drinks in this laid-back bar and have your pies delivered, thus bringing together the best of two worlds. The second option is Nearby the Tree, which continues to pour free draft daily this month from 6-9 PM.

It’s been over a year since I wrote about the possibility of watching Hockey Night in Canada in Beijing. (What could be better? Saturday night games in Canada and Sunday morning viewing in China. Beer and pizza there and Bloody Marys and brunch here. And Tim Horton’s coffee everywhere.) Anyway, I hear the Goose and Duck is working on getting its feed up to speed, so I will head there in a few days and try to find out when we will finally get some ice time. At this point, I think I’d sit in the G n’ D and listen to a radio broadcast.

This Saturday is shaping up to be a diverse one: The Beijinger all-you-can-drink Tsingtao Beer Palace tour, a CD release party for Black Cat Bone, an appearance by Toto singer Bobby Kimball at Hard Rock Cafe, and the winner of the Name That TUN contest - Danger Boy - doing his eighties set on that Great Wall DJ booth, followed by Acupuncture.

Huh? Don't worry. We'll give you the real deal.

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Gobble, gobble…

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and this is your chance to win a turkey dinner for six, and a bottle of wine, all of which will be delivered to your home next Thursday.

The bird and all the fixings come courtesy of Culinary Capers, which is handling the Thanksgiving dinner at Sequoia Café (see details below) on November 27. The Wine Republic is donating a bottle of Yering Station E.D. Pinot Noir 2006 to go along with the turkey (available at Sequoia for RMB148 per bottle for Thanksgiving).

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment and tell us one thing you are thankful for in Beijing. Yes, I know my contests tend to have sillier themes, but this has been a topsy-turvy year for China – from the Sichuan earthquake to the Beijing Olympics – so why not consider what we appreciate about living here?

The deadline for entries is Friday at 3 PM and I aim to do the draw the same afternoon.

This is the second-last of a barrage of contests I have had in the queue. And I’ll soon have a list of some of the Thanksgiving dinners being held around town. In the meantime, the Culinary Capers special for November 27 at Sequoia Cafe (Guanghua Lu) is available as take out (3-6 PM) or sit down (6-10 PM) for RMB138 per person. This is the menu they provided:

• Wild greens with merlot poached pears, caramelized hazelnuts with maple apple cider dressing
• Oven roasted turkey with gravy
• Celery apple and onion stuffing
• Spiced cranberry chutney
• Chive and crème fraîche mashed potato
• Roast winter vegetables with brown butter and nutmeg
• Pumpkin pie with cinnamon whipped cream

To RSVP, contact Narissa at 13911-264-200 by Friday, November 21.

Tomaz Hladnik of Strait did the honors of overseeing the return of Celebrity Pub Crawl in which participants suggested bars and clubs for Kylie Minogue to visit during her stay in our fair city.* From Kokomo to Coco Banana, from China Club to Cheers, we had two dozen entries. But there can only be one winner of two tickets to the Kylie concert, courtesy of mypiao.com, and two bottles of Yarrabank Crème du Cuvee sparkling rose, courtesy of The Wine Republic. And that lucky person is…

Andrew Lih!

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated!

* And he pulled it cause he was in the hood to arrange vodka and gin specials for this Saturday’s set by Danger Boy, winner of the Name That TUN contest, with TUN and Acupuncture Records. More details soon.

Yesterday, I posted 8 Songs’ review of Lugar. Here’s my take on the same spot based on a late September visit.

Lugar is usually billed as serving Vietnamese food, but I went because I heard the place does some mean Taiwanese dishes. A thumb up for the deep-fried combo, which had “three-level meat” (skin, fat, and meat), sweet potatoes, string beans, breaded chicken, and shrimp balls. Another thumb up for the Taiwanese sausage plate, a pungent and powerful dish with ample spices, garlic stems, and sliced chili.

Less enthusiasm for the squid with rice wine, which I found a bit rubbery though creative (the stuffing included carrot, pork, and rice noodles), and for the tofu roll, which had mushrooms, vegetables, and other ingredients, but a too-thick wrapper.

These foods would go perfectly with Taiwan draft, the version that comes in the big green bottles, but given that stuff has a shelf life of two to three weeks, we are unlikely to ever get it in Beijing. So, my friend PW and I settled on cocktails. She had a refreshing house special that included lemongrass, rum, mint, and soda water - call it a Mojito with more zing. I tried the Oriental Bourbon, with ginger, lemon, and orange, and found it  OK, though next time I would stick for straight Bourbon, especially given that Lugar stocks about 100 different Whiskeys. The owner is also making some infused rums.

Regular contributor 8 Songs recently visited the Nanluoguxiang area and dined at Lugar. Here is his take on this bar and Vietnamese tapas joint. (Note: I will post a review of Lugar tomorrow: It’s been sitting in my “almost done” pile for over a month as I futilely believed I would hunt down the names of the foods I ate there.)

“Sometimes it pays not to have firm dinner plans when you go out for a preliminary drink. The other night while washing away the week’s troubles, a friend of mine suggested we try eating at a place she had heard about via one of the expat rags (CW).

“The place is called Lugar, in Nanluoguxiang. Not to be confused with Luga’s in Sanlitun. This Lugar offers Vietnamese tapas! Intrigued by the idea of Vietnamese tapas, and always in for a new experience, my GF and I decided to tag along.

“At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were at the wrong place. When you get to the address, you find yourself in a bottle shop. And not a terribly impressive one at that - I checked out the wine selection during the evening and found it to be pretty ordinary.

“But we were quickly escorted to a large room at the back, where we found a well-stocked bar to our left, a table of six or eight people and a pool table. Apart from that, there were one or two tables strewn around with an odd chair here or there. Since we would be a total eight or ten people, we had a choice of strong-arming the other party out of their setting, eating off the pool table, or squeezing tables together and sitting three people to two chairs so we could fit. We chose the last option, and got to know each other much more than we had planned!

“A quick word about the pool table. It looks to be good quality, with a true surface, but it’s way too big for its room. Even without us blocking one end, there were many corners where a player simply couldn’t get a good angle on the ball. (Although at my level of ability it makes no difference.)

“Since we were the first of the group to arrive, we ordered food and drink. The menu consisted of things like vegetable rolls, salads, and typical Vietnamese food, presented on a small plate… eventually. Perhaps because by the time our friends arrived the total number of patrons was double the safe limit, the food simply didn’t arrive for over an hour. Drinks weren’t much better. Although they had a reasonable selection, it still took upwards of 20 minutes to get our first drinks. Subsequent orders took longer.

“To be fair to them, we had not booked, and to rock up with a number of people roughly equal to their seating capacity and expect normal service is not right.

“The good thing was the price. Everything was two-for-one. So a RMB40 cocktail was great value. The only downer there was that the second drink had to be identical. Not equivalent or lower value. So if you wanted a lychee martini, you needed to have a friend who also wanted one, or you needed to be thirsty! The food prices were excellent as well, at RMB10 to RMB40 per plate, before the discount.

“Lugar is well worth another try.