Capital Bites: Artisan Candy, Coffee and Breakfast (The Sanlitun Edition)

In a city that largely embraces the classic idiom, "early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," the biggest news in the past week is probably the 24-hour Starbucks which opened last night in Sanlitun's Taikoo Li South.

Taikoo Li always has a mess of things shifting about, so of course there's more than just a new big box coffee shop. Elsewhere in the south complex, Olas Tapas next to Coldstone has closed. From the looks of it, the next tenant seems to be Japanese, which is keeping in trend with many of the new openings as of late (Koyama, Brick Wood, Okra 1949).

The custom hard candy store Papa Bubble has opened in the northwest corner of Taikoo Li North (across from Yashow). It's a sleek space with tiny, flavorful sucking candies in test tubes and foil pouches.

Newly opened Moka Bros. on the ground floor of Nali Patio is running a promotion which can bag you a free drink or dessert. Snap a picture of the place, upload it to social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Weibo) and tag it with an @mokabros to get in on that deal. There's a chance to win a free month of drinks if you're chosen.

In the north section, Italian fine dining spot Isola has opened between Missa and Haru on the second floor of the North section. We went for a few pre-tastings two weeks back and our party gave mixed reviews. The pizza is on point though, as are the pastas with salty punctuation (anchovies, capers, etc). We'll be back for a full review so keep your eyes open for when we've done some more comprehensive research.

Futher south in Courtyard 4, one of the guys behind The Beach and Moment Cafe is opening a new bistro, club and lounge next to d Lounge called Ink. The offical opening is this Friday and Saturday, September 20 and 21, starting at 9pm until late.

That courtyard is becoming quite something. A few nights ago, I ran into Seth Grossman of Home Plate Bar-B-Que in Sanlitun taking the night off from the madness of preparing to open their huge new second location near Janes and Hooch. Things sound like they are moving along so you can still expect the opening in the coming months.

Joining Great Leap and Home Plate in this migration to Sanlitun, we hear that The Rug may be opening a space in that same complex. More details and confirmation to come, but more breakfast, brunch and organic options are always welcomed.

A bit outside the fray, coffeeshop Ocean Grounds will be opening another location on the ground floor of Shimao Department store across from Gongti. They're planning hours of 7am-2am with a bar starting at 6pm. That leaves you with a five hour window for hitting up the 24-hour Starbucks a block over.

Photos: the Beijinger