Capital Bites: New Eats, New Chefs, New Menus

Sanlitun Village South is chock-full of new arrivals. Not only will wine lovers will be excited for Modo (see related post), dairy lovers will also be excited for Wondermilk. This newbie offers fresh frozen yogurt made with milk sourced from its farms. Soon to open on the top floor are three other new restaurants: barbeque joint Flamme, a new Stumble Inn and the Russian Queen’s Konditorei.

The artsy folk out at 798 now have a new first-rate dining option. Fennel, the seafood bistro at the new boutique hotel Yi House has Christian Hoffmann, formerly of Raffles Beijing, creating some marvelous pizzas and seafood towers, as well as an excellent bowl of Singaporean seafood noodle (laksa). Two Japanese restaurants have opened up recently as well. Du, a trendy bi-level restaurant/bar is located in The Place, and Geba Geba serves up simple, elegant cuisine near Chaoyangmenwai.

As for what's coming up, Grill 79 at the China World Summit Wing has an opening date of August 3 in place, so the people of Beijing can soon rush to dine at the highest restaurant in town. The best ramen in town has decided to replicate, and Invincible Ramen II will open in Jianwai SOHO in two months. Rumor also has it that Agua, formerly of the Legation Quarter, will reopen on the fourth floor of Nali Patio … former Agua fans, stay tuned.

There are also new chefs in town, including seasoned chef Nils Kramer as the new executive chef of Beijing Marriott Hotel City Wall. Fratelli Fresh at the Renaissance Beijing Capital welcomes a new award-winning Milanese chef, Ivan Fargnoli.

Aside from the new places popping up, there are a slew of new eats around town. The sleek eatery Paper is going vegetarian and revamped its menu, which includes egg tofu topped with horseradish shoots, Volcano rice and steamed egg in pumpkin. Everyone’s favorite creperie, Crepanini, expanded its menu (there are now buckwheat crepes) and created breakfast & lunch set menus. Not only that, they’ve finally added an indoor dining section. Element Fresh’s refreshing summer menu includes Chilean-style roast beef salad with hearts of palm, tuna tartare in two flavors and an amazing Vietnamese avocado smoothie with a minty touch. And as if Sunday fried chicken isn’t enough temptation, Apothecary will soon be offering a Wednesday night ribs and brisket special, which reportedly takes three days to cook. Sounds amazing.