Chi Fan for Charity Extravaganza

Saturday night was pretty hectic.

As the organizer for the Chi Fan for Charity host tables of Hatsune, Karaiya and Oden, I had my hands full.

My night started off at Hatsune (Guanghua Lu), where I greeted and received a table of 10 lovely ladies, hosted by Julie Schultz.  Hatsune offered a generous 7-course menu including a selection of appetizers, salad, sashimi, tempura, oden, beef butteryaki, an assortment of Hatsune’s best-selling rolls and green tea ice cream paired together with a tasting of 4 unique sake.

Next stop: Oden, which was fully booked with 25 seats hosted by Holly & Landon Loomis, who invited a great group from the US Embassy.  Considering the seating capacity for the restaurant is 28 seats, Oden had a full house with a great crowd of foodies, all impressed by the high-quality oden and fresh seafood along with the restaurant’s simplistic and contemporary décor.

After Oden, I hopped over to Karaiya to catch the final table of ten, hosted by Alicia Mei and Darwin Tu.  All first time Karaiya visitors, the group was thrilled to be introduced to such an extraordinary restaurant featuring authentic, spicy Hunan cuisine.  Having worked up an appetite, I, myself could not resist the urge to indulge in a few of my favorite Karaiya dishes myself before making my way over to China Doll for the Chi Fan for Charity After-Party.

As the official EventPod photographer for the Chi Fan for Charity After-Party @ China Doll, Joanna and I jumped on the opportunity to showcase our innovative new technology, which can broadcast photos on TV screens while they are simultaneously being taken.  Sponsoring the photos and event photograph system for the night, we were able to capture on camera the great turn-out with almost everyone from the participating 16 restaurants coming together after enjoying incredible meals at Beijing’s top restaurants.  See here some of my favorite photos from the after-party.

Here is the link for the complete photo database from the charity event:

www.eventpod.smugmug.com/Chairty/Chi-Fan_for-Charity/10257820_grwLB

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For those of you who enjoy good food and good company all in the name of a good cause, I encourage you to join us on December 5, 2009 for CAI‘s Inaugural Charity Dinner, held on Saturday, December 5th, 2009, at Karaiya Spice House.

CAI is a program of the Promise Foundation, a US non-profit organization that works with the children of migrant families in both rural and urban China. CAI provides arts and sports programs in migrant schools which focus on character development and instilling qualities that enable underprivileged children to be productive citizens and future leaders.

In addition to showcasing CAI’s work with migrant children, the dinner will be marked by a special performance by students from CAI’s music program at the XiWang ZhiXing School under the tutelage of the lively Brazilian percussion group, SambAsia Beijing. The evening, which starts at 7:00pm, will also contain a special silent auction of limited edition photography produced by children in CAI’s photography class from spring ‘09.

Event Program for December 5th, 7-10pm

7:00pm Reception

8:00pm Dinner

8:30pm Special Performance & Presentation

9:30pm Silent Auction Closes

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Ellen Luo at 135.5257.9279 or ellen@cai-china.org. You can also contact me directly: Kristen 132 4011 4868 or kristen@lumdimsum.com

Black Sesame Kitchen: The Not-So-Secret Hidden Gem

A lot of people have heard of Black Sesame Kitchen’s fun and interactive cooking classes or wine ‘n dine dinner parties, but not so many people know that once a month, Black Sesame Kitchen will host a special 10-course traditional Chinese meal + all-you-can-drink quality wine for RMB 150 per person. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Black Sesame Kitchen may not be listed among CityWeekend’s Gourmet Month Restaurants, but it may as well be, considering how incredibly awesome this steal of a bargain is!

Hosted by my very favorite event manager, Candice Lee aka C-dice, she really does wonders for this little hutong kitchen. Considering she knows EVERYONE in Beijing, there is always a fully-booked table with all the cool kids in town (foodies who know where it’s at).

This special deal only occurs once a month (typically the first Wednesday of every month), but the cooking classes are a ton of fun and Black Sesame Kitchen is the perfect destination to impress out-of-towners and host private dinner parties whether its a birthday, corporate event or wine tasting.

Black Sesame Kitchen Review: Off of Nanluoguxiang (turn when you see Log-in Bar), 黑芝麻胡同3号  Tel: 136-9147-4408

Best Part:

• You can indulge in an amazing 10-course meal PLUS all-you-can-drink QUALITY wine for only RMB 150 (special price available once a month)
• Best dessert EVER: Candied Apples Chilled in Vanilla Ice Cream
• Everything is cooked right in front of you, making for a really interactive dining experience – Chairman Wang is a culinary genius
• The wine selection is always superb in taste and quality
• The service is the best (C-dice is the perfect host, always on top of her game)
• A great option to host private dinner parties for a group of friends and the cooking classes are really great (*think birthday present for someone who loves cooking and good food).
• It’s a great place to bring friends or to meet new friends (always a great dining crowd of foodies who share the love for good food and wine)

Comments:

• Incredibly tricky to find if it’s your first time (but I promise you it’s worth the extra effort – just carefully follow the directions they send to you)
• You need to learn to pace yourself and prepare for heaps of food that seems to never stop coming (my first time, I made the terrible mistake of overloading on the first dishes and was stuffed by the 5th course – reminder: there are 10! And trust me, you’ll want to save room for their dessert)

Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)

• Food: 9
• Atmosphere: 8
• Service: 9
• Overall Experience: 9