TRB Bites: Guest Chef Damiano Nigro from Piedmont, Italy

Chef Damiano Nigro (Michelin 1 Star, Villa d’Amelia) brings Progressive Italian from the Hills of Barolo to the Kitchen at TRB Bites

When foodies look at a Michelin map, it’s clear that there is a concentration of Michelin restaurants in one little area in Italy’s northwest region called Piedmont. From Langhe to Barolo to Alba, this area is a mountainous region famous for its white truffles (considered the best in the world), fondue, Barolo wines and thin breadsticks called grissini. Piedmont is also reputed to be Italy’s most culinarily progressive region, which makes sense that they are snatching up so many Michelin stars.

Beijing now has the privilege to have a taste of Piedmont as TRB Bites welcomes their first guest chef of 2017, who also happens to be the first Italian chef that they have ever hosted. Chef Damiano Nigro is introduced as an Italian culinary force with 1 Michelin star as the executive chef of the 4 star Relais “Villa d’Amelia” in Piedmont, where he still works today. While Chef Damiano has traveled all over the world and cooked in Germany, France, England, Spain, New York and Taiwan, he’s taken the inspiration he’s received in each place and applied it to his intense focus in the kitchen.

A recommendation to TRB by a foodie who was previous based in Beijing, Chef Damiano is in Beijing for just a week, presenting a lunch menu (RMB 480 per person) and a dinner menu (RMB 680 per person) between Wednesday, March 8th-Sunday, March 12th.

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Pachakutiq: Peruvian Pop-Up’s Second Iteration

Pachakutiq is a Peruvian gastronomic bar and restaurant that I previously reviewed when they first opened as a small pop-up, taking over the evening shift of Cafe Flatwhite in the CBD Dawanglu at China Central Place.

Now, they have expanded their menu offerings and moved into a new location in Sanlitun SOHO so I was keen to get down there and see what developments have been made.

I had known that they moved from their very temporary pop-up shop to a permanent space in the B1 level of Sanlitun SOHO, which is a big step for them. But I didn’t realize that the new restaurant is still in collaboration with Cafe Flatwhite, so once again the space is a Cafe Flatwhite by day and morphs into Pachakutiq by night. The main difference is that this time the space has a better (and larger) kitchen so the menu has significantly expanded.

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Marufuku Japanese BBQ: Glorious Grilling

Marufuku 丸福日本烧肉店 is a Japanese style barbecue restaurant. One that I was recently referred to by fellow foodies, this place has been a long-time favorite of theirs, a reliable restaurant they fondly refer to as “Mother F-ing Good BBQ” (sounds just like Marfuku right?)

Images of skewers over a smoky grill may come to mind, but yakitori actually refers specifically to chicken skewers and this particular type of barbecue features a wide range of different meats that you grill yourself, which may be more similar to your Korean BBQ restaurant experiences.

Marufuku currently has three branches around Beijing (see addresses below) and we went to the one on the North side of the Liangma River – straight north on Xindong Lu from the Canadian Embassy then turn left after you cross over to the north side of the river. You will see it on your right-hand side.

The smell is the first thing that hits you when you walk in their doors. Coming inside on a windy night, it’s warm and cozy inside filled with the wonderful smell of grilled meats. There are pros and cons to this – while it immediately makes your mouth water, it is also a smell that lingers on your clothing for days after so remember to leave your coats by the door and plan to throw everything else you wear into the laundry when you get home. Either that or you can just bask in the lingering smell of grilled meats on your clothes the next time you wear them.

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UnTour Beijing Food Tours: A Tasting of Local Breakfast Bites

UnTour’s Beijing Hutong Breakfast Tour

UnTour Food Tours first started in Shanghai in 2010 and they have now branched into Beijing with two different tours – a Hutong Breakfast and Old Beijing Dinner tour with a bilingual guide.

Knowing that locals generally live a lifestyle that follows the mantra ‘Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’, I opted to join the Hutong Breakfast tour, which also falls on the weekend.

“Join us for breakfast as we sample the most authentic and delicious snacks that are hiding in plain sight, once you get off the crowded roads and into the backstreets. Wake up early and explore the culinary scene with our trusted vendors, your bilingual guide and a small group of new foodie friends. Over the course of three hours, you’ll eat your way through China’s 5,000 years of culinary history, try new foods and gain an appreciation for the artisans making these handmade treats. We take pride in our vendor relationships, food and city history knowledge – our guides go through a rigorous training process and are active in the F&B industry. Come taste the city’s tastiest (and safe) authentic foods with a professional insider!” - UnTour Food Tours

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Triple Threat: Cinker Pictures Restaurant, Bar & Cinema

2017 Welcomes Beijing’s Trendiest New Addition: Cinker Pictures

Cinker Pictures is a brand new concept that has opened on the fourth floor of North Sanlitun Taikoo Li next to Space Cycle. Part bar, part restaurant, part cinema it is an intriguing idea that actually fills a vacuum left by the efforts to control media here in the middle kingdom.

Given the paucity of film choices – The Great Wall anyone? - Cinker are planning on showing classic films that you will relish the chance to go and see. Over the month of February 2017, you can expect to see films like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, “Forrest Gump”, “Wall Street”, “Lolita” and “Fight Club”.

Combine the plush, wide leather chairs with some classic cocktails featured in film favorites (French 75 from Casablanca, Highball from The Great Gatsby (1974) and White Russian from The Big Lebowski) and you may well have an ideal date location. With a cinema that has 30 available seats per film showing, it’s perfect to grab a drink, see a classic film and talk it over a dinner together for an all-in-one date place that covers all the bases. While it’s normally RMB 150 for a ticket + your drink of choice, they have a soft opening promo now where each show ticket is RMB 105 (which also includes a drink).

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Call for Beijing’s Bakers: 2017 Cookie Monster Bake-Off

Have a Talent for Baking? We Want YOU!

Love watching The Great British Bake-Off? Do you ever dream of opening your very own bakery? Are you always the one who volunteers to bring something sweet when friends invite you over for a potluck? Are you in possession of a cherished cookie family recipe?

In the past three years of Cookie Monster Bake-Off events, we already know there is a lot of baking talent in Beijing as we’ve tasted some incredibly moreish cookies over the years. And it’s that time of year when we’re officially putting out the call for Beijing’s best bakers to begin submitting their recipe of choice for our annual bake-off event in March!

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TRB Bites Revisited: New Chef, New Menu

1 Year Later: TRB Bites Revisted

New chef, new menu, same great fundamentals.

TRB Bites@The Courtyard has brought on a new international executive chef Sebastian Schafer last fall (August 2016) and we have heard excellent reviews. A restaurant known to provide excellent value, this one caught everyone by surprise when it opened at the end of 2015 and after a handful of visits with different foodie friends (including a BJ FOoDiEs Charity Dinner that hosted 110 guests), I was long due for a return visit.

A Grand Entrance for a Gorgeous Restaurant

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Saigon Mama: Glitzy Vietnamese from Shanghai

Fast Casual Vietnamese Restaurant Brand from Shanghai

Things are not all rosy in Taikoo Li. There are a core of restaurants that produce great food, have great service and seem to have a great business. At the same time, there is a large section of the upper floor where the casualties keep mounting up. Rent is expensive, and if you aren’t that visible, your offerings need to be pretty special.

Opened at the end of November 2016, Saigon Mama is the latest tenant that, based on our experience this week, won’t be joining the ranks of the long term prosperous.

First impressions were great, ticking all the initial boxes. Their interior is stylish for a fast-casual restaurant, a bit reminiscent of North Taikoo Li’s Cacha Cacha Thai restaurant (currently still under renovations). Sitting in the restaurant, you’re surrounded by shelves stocked full of hot sauce, cans of condensed milk, and other Vietnamese products. It’s stylish and the giant logo streaked with bright blue and red neon wins Saigon Mama some major cool points.

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