BJ FOoDiEs: “Gift of Bread” Carnivore Charity Feast

 BJ FOoDiES Take On Guinea Pig Role for FEAST’s Carnivore Club

Valentine’s Day 2014: Embrace the Love of Dining

Learn Embrace Valentine’s Day with Commonalities

It’s really a shame that there is so much angst and feelings of frustration and rejection that envelop Valentine’s Day. For many of my single ladies (and men!) out there, it’s like the dreaded day that reminds us how lonely singledom can be.

But instead of focusing on all the negative sentiments that surround the V-day holiday, we should instead change our mind set to think of it like Christmas, Thanksgiving and every other happy holiday that’s focused on celebrating love. It doesn’t have to be the mushy-gushy romantic-type love, it can be the love we share between friends and family too!

I’m a big advocate of sharing equal responsibility for this holiday. We should do everyone a favor and relieve men of this overwhelming pressure to take on all the stress of making this holiday special, memorable, thoughtful, etc. etc. Women are equally capable (if not even more so!) of doing the same for the wonderful male friends, mentors, and figures in their life. Who doesn’t love a surprise switcheroo?!

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Jump Start 2014: LDS’ Top 10 NYE Celebrations

2013 came and went faster than most of us would have liked, but here’s to the passing of another eventful year and the beginnings of a bright and exciting 2014 ahead!

After stuffing ourselves silly at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, I’m not sure how many want to indulge in lavish multiple-course meals again this New Year’s Eve but there are plenty of fancy dinners available at many of Beijing’s top restaurants followed by a range of different NYE parties including both upscale, dress-up parties and wild, packed-out dance parties with the city’s top DJ’s playing straight into 2014.

There’s plenty out there, but here goes the LDS breakdown of Top 10 Events to ring in 2014 -

LDS’ Top 10 Picks for New Year’s Eve:

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LDS Top Picks: Cheery Christmas Feasts in Beijing

Celebrate Christmas with Cheery Feasts in Beijing’s Best Dining Establishments!

Christmas is literally just around the corner (sorry for not getting this live earlier!), but hopefully this reaches all Beijingers before it’s too late!  If you don’t have Christmas plans yet and you’re looking for something worth splurging on, there’s still plenty of quality options for special Christmas Eve and Christmas Day lunch & dinner menus at Beijing’s top dining destinations.

Merry Christmas and with only a few days left, I hope you all make the best of the rest of 2013!

Christmas Dinner Break Down: (in alphabetical order)

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Thanksgiving 2013: LDS Picks for Top Turkey Feasts

Beijing’s Best Thanksgiving Feasts 2013

With terrific Thanksgiving spreads available around town throughout the week, there’s no reason why you have to pressure yourself into picking just one Thanksgiving meal.  We’ve waited all year long for this incredible turkey feast to come around again so make the most of it this year and sign yourself up for as many as you can stuff yourself with.

Whether you’re American is irrelevant because no matter where you’re from, everyone can appreciate a holiday focused on phenomenal food and good company, and celebrate Thanksgiving with a home-style meal even if they are so far away from home.

Last year, my gang of foodies managed to eat through two turkey feasts in one day. Some might call us guilty of gluttony, but I just say we were fully embracing the spirit of Thanksgiving. A very special time of year for foodies like us, it’s a time where diets are thrown out the window and you indulge guilt-free in anything and everything that is Thanksgiving goodness.

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M’s Light Lunch Menu is Local, Seasonal & Organic

Capital M Introduces their 4-course Light and Healthy Lunch Menu

So much more than a stunningly gorgeous restaurant with incredible views of Qianmen, the thing I like most about Capital M is their support of organic, local and seasonal produce and their understanding of the importance of sustainable practices.

This is the same environmentally conscious and food-passionate team who also recently organized an anti-food waste and food loss campaign to support World Environment Day on June 5th, and a week-long special menu to celebrate Food Revolution Day, a day of action for people to make a stand for good food and essential cooking skills, which ended with a “Foodprint” debate panel to discuss their take on the current food climate and importance of sustainable practices.

So it makes sense that they’re now promoting a new 3-course + fresh juice “Light and Healthy Luncheon” menu using local, seasonal and organic ingredients, all attributes I am excited to support (and happily consume!).

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Classical Concert at Capital M: French Summer Dream

Fête de la Musique: The Capital Music String Quartet performs the Romantic Greats

This Friday, June 21st, Capital M is hosting a free concert of dreamy French Classical music, as played by their house Capital Music String Quartet, featuring musicians from the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music.

This concert serves as a tribute to Fête de la Musique (since 1982), a day that celebrates all kinds of music, with free performances in outdoor spaces and surprising venues. Fete de la Musique is now held in over 100 countries on June 21, the summer solstice.

“In celebration of Fête de la Musique, Capital M brings you an evening of the Romantic greats, including Debussy, Dutilleux and Ravel.” – Capital M

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Capital M Launches Campaign Against Food Waste

Join the Fight Against Food Waste

June 5th marks World Environment Day and the theme for this year’s celebrations is “Think. Eat. Save.”, an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint.

“If food is wasted, it means that all the resources and inputs used in the production of all the food are also lost. For example, it takes about 1,000 litres of water to produce 1 litre of milk and about 16,000 litres goes into a cow’s foodto make a hamburger. The resulting greenhouse gas emissions from the cows themselves, and throughout the food supply chain, all end up in vain when we waste food.” - United Nations Environment Programme

In support of this year’s theme of food waste, Capital M is conducting an awareness raising campaign and they’re putting one of their most prized menu items on the line (their famous Pavlova dessert!). In an effort to reduce food waste, they have announced that for all meals at Capital M (lunch and/or dinner) on June 5th, dessert is on the house if you completely polish off all the food on your plate!

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