Beijing Boyce

I stopped by The Pavillion tonight upon hearing that the place had changed ownership after some five years in business. It indeed appears so as I met Marlen, who represents the owners and says they are involved in the Sim-Sim group. The Pavillion has one of the best patios in town and Marlen says he plans to improve it, to renovate the interior to make it feel warmer, and to continue to work on the food menu with William Bolton, of Chef Too fame, who came on board as a consultant earlier this year. The Pavillion had a decent crowd on its deck tonight and I plan to return later this week. I’m looking forward to seeing what the new owners do with this place…

* Hat tip to JK and T-Man for the title

Break out the cowboy hats and stirrups: A new gay lounge called Stallion is slated to open a block north of Workers Stadium near April Gourmet. A source says Stallion will feature an all-white décor and focus on cocktails. It will add to the growing number of gay spots in the area, including neighbors The Half and Alfa, with its weekly event, along with Destinations and McQueen’s.

On the same street, Moroccan grill Argana has seen a shakep-up as mercurial head man Youssef has left the restaurant and a team led by Gus Zhang has taken over. Argana might see some tweaking but it looks like much of the staff remains and it should be business as usual.

In other restaurant departures, Paul Mathew has left as manager at Flamme though he will stay involved as a drinks consultant and man the bar on the Wednesday Martini and Manhattan nights, starting from next week. Food consultant Jeff Powell, who has done work with Element Fresh, Gung Ho Pizza and Kro’s Nest, left Flamme several months ago and has been doing a project with the Bellagio group. Current employee Helen Jin is taking over as floor supervisor at Flamme.

Look for the new Kro’s Nest to open kitty corner to Salsa Caribe in Sanlitun South mid-summer. Working is coming along, says Olfa “Kro” Bauer, who adds that Kro’s Nest will add new soups, appetizers, pizzas and desserts to its menu at the end of the month. He also says Robbie Hennebry, who has played at Danger Doyle’s, Stumble Inn, Fubar and Paddy O’Shea’s, will soon be strumming and singing at Kro’s several nights per week.

Finally,  Fatburger has opened its newest outlet, this one at China World Mall 1…

The team behind Home Plate, which built a following with a delivery service focused on brisket, ribs, wings and the like, opened its restaurant today a block behind the new Kro’s Nest on Xiaoyun Road. Home Plate has seating for about forty, a custom-made smoker stoked with apple wood, a cute and cuddly cow logo that might inspire people to order the veggies, and modest prices given the size of several dishes I sampled on Sunday. They included a double burger, with 300 grams of tender meat just a touch pink in the middle, priced at RMB35, and one of the house specialities, cheese fries topped with brisket, priced at RMB45. Expect pulled pork sandwiches at RMB30 and cheese fries at RMB20 along with Texas ranch beans, potato salad and smoked corn on the cob.

Seth Grossman says Home Plate aims to capture the spirit of the southern BBQ belt. “It is all about slow cooking,” he says. “In the Carolinas people usually do pulled pork, in Texas it is brisket and beef, and in Memphis you see more of a rub on the ribs.” Chef Adama Murray, who also manned the kitchen during the delivery service days, had the smoker built to his specs and is doing everything from the cornbread to the barbecue sauce in house.

The beverage list is a still work in progress, with plans to serve a range of Bourbons, drinks such as Alabama Slammers and Mint Juleps, and American craft beers as well as a brew or two on tap. But if what I tasted last night is any indication, we can live without the drinks for the time being.

For those unfamiliar with the area, take the alley beside Kro’s Nest to the end and turn left. In fact, you can make it an all-American meal by hitting both places, getting some pizzas as well as some brisket and pulled pork.

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Some might call them hot dogs, others might call them handheld cardiac arrest units, but I call them delicious. Look for Switch restaurant in the 798 district to formally open its deck this Saturday. It will be known as Billy K’s Lemonade Stand, after co-owner Billy Kawaja, and will obviously have homemade lemonade, and in two versions, standard and spiked, the latter including one shot, two shot or three shot vodka options.

While it is still touch and go whether the lemonade stand will be ready for this weekend, the hot dogs will be on the grill, and I had a chance to try some at a recent wedding reception held at Switch. Each wiener is split in half and cooked well before being slid on a grilled bun with a slice of bacon plus cheddar cheese, smoked ketchup and Dijon mustard. In the interests of research, I ate four hot dogs at the wedding and found each one better than the last. That the normally finicky Cellar Rat ate not one but two hot dogs stands as even more of an endorsement.

Asking for a spot of tea at Fubar on Sunday night meant getting something far more potent as Jamie Terrell, brand head of Hendrick’s Gin for the Asia-Pacific region, led a cocktail tasting. “During Prohibition, teapots helped to disguise the use of alcohol,” he explained, and added that spirits were often mixed with juice to further help hide the evidence. I’m guessing those teapots made it easier for the authorities to sometimes (often?) look the other way.

I tried three Hendrick’s-based cocktails, all from recipes Terrell says were created in the past year or so:

1) Teatime Martini, with gin, fresh lemon juice and rose petal jam. This one seems to be tricky in terms of getting the sour and sweet balanced. The first glass turned out to be mouth-puckering, the second swinging between sweet and sour, and these were my least favorites of the night.

2) Flora Dora, with gin, fresh lime juice and raspberry syrup. This one is sweet, but not cloyingly so, and has nice jammy aromas and flavors. It should be a crowd pleaser.

3) Earl of Negroni, with gin, Campari, Martini Rosso and Ceylon tea with fresh rose buds. The most interesting of the three with a slightly milky and tannic ending.

The night also featured happy hour prices, which meant Fubar’s popular Hendrick’s Gin Tonic at RMB25…