Beijing Boyce

A heads up for fans of Mosto: the third-floor Nali Patio restaurant will close for renovations for a week, from Sunday, August 1 to Monday, August 9. Meanwhile, the team is aiming to open the second establishment, Modo, on the third floor of Sanlitun Village in early August. Says Oscar Teran, who is handling the PR for the two places, the furniture is in place and the menu is nearly finished.

Everyone and his brother wanted to join.

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Members club The Apartment is slated to reopen in mid-August under the same name, says a source involved in the project. On the top floor of Tongli Studio, across from the entrance to Kokomo, The Apartment opened last year with 25 founding “flatmates” who were given access to everything from private parties to the bar fridge to the laser printer and who could recommend others as members. Membership grew from 25 to 85 but joining soon became “a cool thing to do” and went against the spirit of the project, says the source.  The idea is to reopen it as more of a drinking club. An increased number of people would have access to the place via the thumbprint lock but becoming a “flatmate”, which includes benefits such as discounts, would involve a stricter process. Well, and both these pics are from that movie, maybe not Animal House strict …

So the rules will become a wee bit stricter.

Sea urchins!

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Quick quiz: The favorite foods of NBA star Kevin Garnett are: a) sea urchin, tuna tartar, and halibut linguine, or b) hamburgers, french fries, and pizza?

If you answered b), you know your Boston Celtics. But if you want to see him possibly eat a), you are in luck, because Room Beijing will host “an evening with NBA Star Kevin Garnett” on August 1 from 7 PM. The dinner also includes everything from pot-roasted black cod to the restaurant’s well-known “fruit tree” dessert (see menu here). It starts at 7 PM, costs RMB688 (plus 10 percent, does not include drinks), and will be followed by an after-party at 10 PM with DJ Wordy. For reservations, call 8517-2033.

Soon with more hand-spiced pepperoni...

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While that superb two-for-one pizza deal at Gung Ho ends this Saturday, there is good news for those who have become fans of these pies but think they will be too expensive at regular prices: As of Sunday, Gung Ho will increase its pizza sizes, but keep the same regular prices.

The large will go from 12 inches to 14 inches, making it slightly more than a third bigger, says Gung Ho’s Rich Akers. And the medium will go from 9 inches to 11 inches, which by my calculations makes it about 50 percent bigger. These guys couldn’t have planned it better.

I’ve ordered a dozen pizzas since Gung Ho opened three weeks ago and this added value means more four-cheese pies will be coming my way. For the menu, see here.

(Because my brain is on slow today, I asked two wordsmiths sitting nearby–Andy B and K Square–to help with the title of this post. Their ideas included, “An extra two inches do matter”, “the Ho just got bigger”, and “Forget 7-ELEVEN, it’s nine to eleven”. It’s nice to have friends.)

A handful of restaurants/bars are on the verge of opening on the third floor of Sanlitun Village, though some of the projects have teetered on that edge for a quite a while due, say numerous sources, to administrative issues (factor #157 to be considered by anyone who thinks it would be “fun” to open a place). Construction is also under way in the northeast corner, though I am not sure what is going in there. Anyway, here are the five spots that barring any more delays should be open within the next month, some of them possibly within the next week:

• Flamme: A two-floor grill in the former Peppe’s Pizza location. The set-up team includes Dev Raturi (formerly of Meat & Wine), Jeffrey Powell (The Orchard and Element Fresh, among other places), and Paul Mathew (see www.bloodandsand.com). It looks pretty much finished and could be open within the next week.
• Modo: The second establishment by Daniel Urdaneta and Alex Molina of Mosto, next door in Nali Patio, its closest neighbors are Toni & Guy and Karaiya Spice House. See here for more details.
• Stumble Inn: The second edition of the former subterranean pub on Lucky Street, the project is headed by Glenn Phelan and Shane Neill and is in the former Double Coffee space. The sign is now up and the operation has a customized company vehicle–look for a bright yellow motorcycle with sidecar zooming around Sanlitun.
• Queen’s: Beijing branch of the Hong Kong outfit of the same name, this large project is headed by Susanna Tang and includes a bakery, cafe, numerous dining areas, and a wine bar. Located on the south side between Karaiya and Ganges. See here for more details.
• Leaf: On the west side, it will feature Korean beef barbecue. The place has a Korean chef and aims to open within the next week. A nice decor, with plush charcoal gray seating.