The Beijinger – January 2016: The Dining Hall of Fame: Meet the Inaugural Class
Our January issue is a departure from our earlier approach to this fine publication. Although we have done issues that focused largely on a particular topic, never have we given an entire edition over to a single subject, in this case, the initial members of the Beijinger’s Dining Hall of Fame, chosen in March 2015, and profiled here as we move towards the 2016 Beijinger Reader Restaurant Awards.
Our inductees represent a broad range of venues in the Beijing restaurant scene. Many of our readers will be surprised that Annie Lee, proprietor of pizza powerhouse Annie’s, is a real person, and that the name isn’t simply a marketing ploy, like McDonald’s. Annie had so much to tell us that we’ll be publishing the full version of our interview online. Ignace Lecleir talked to us about going casual as TRB expanded to both TRB Bites and TRB Copper in 2015. Avi Shabtai discussed how he turned a small bakery into the Beijinger readers’ favorite Middle Eastern restaurant. Alan Wong shared a couple of secrets of his and Hatsune’s success. And Rich Akers is still a marketing ninja.
Elsewhere in the magazine, Kipp Whittaker shows us where to buy everything needed to make a home kitchen (almost) as good as the restaurants our Hall of Fame is honoring. He also looks at some of Beijing’s finest wine lists and where to find them. Tom Arnstein talks with members of a vanishing group of people, Beijing street hawkers, most still plying their trade by bicycle throughout the city’s hutongs. Margaux Schreurs gives us a weekly roadmap to food deals and discounts to keep us fed for less, and also guides us through some of the best regional culinary offerings in town. And finally, we are pleased to welcome Morgan Short as our new back page columnist, who gives us his very own take on fine dining – at the convenience store.
This issue is also sees us move into a more occasional publication schedule than the previous, regular monthly editions. It’s simple: our readers want more information online, so that’s where we’re heading. Visit our blog at thebeijinger.com/blog, for seven or more daily updates on weekdays, including breaking news, the latest reviews, and other information you need to enjoy life in Beijing to the fullest.
We hope you enjoy the January issue of the Beijinger, which you can check out on Issuu here. Happy New Year to all of our readers!