A cluster of new top notch restaurants in Beijing, several of which are backed by Hong Kong money and expertise, are helping the capital stake its claim as the heart of fine dining in China.
The most anticipated is the Temple Restaurant Beijing, a gourmet European restaurant housed in the 500-year-old Zhi Zhu Si Tibetan temple compound near the Forbidden City palace of the Ming and Qing emperors. The site has had several uses over the years, including an imperial printing press, where scholars and artists worked on Buddhist sutras, and a black-and-white television factory.
Under the stewardship of Belgian restaurateur Ignace Lecleir, the site has been renovated with a contemporary twist. The main dining room overlooks a courtyard flanked by ancient wooden buildings, their faded patina left as is during the restoration.
Lecleir, who spent a year overseeing the work, was amazed to find the disused temple in the historical centre of Beijing. 'I ran through these hutongs for a year while training for a marathon and I never noticed the temple,' he says.
'You are in the middle of a city of 20 million people, but it is quiet here. It is so relaxing. Sometimes, I need an espresso in the middle of the afternoon to wake up, as it is so quiet. But the moment you return to the big street, it is bustling again.'
The restaurant opened two weeks ago after three months of hosting private dinners and corporate functions to ensure the food and service met the high standards demanded by Lecleir, who previously ran the Maison Boulud, a restaurant owned by celebrity chef Daniel Boulud. During his time there, Maison became known as the best fine dining Western restaurant in the city.
Food at Temple Restaurant Beijing is in the hands of Moroccan-British chef Zak El Hamdou, whose menu includes roasted turbot with a basil crust, crispy suckling pig with mashed potato and spiced apple, and roasted young pigeon with ceps, smoked duck, parsnips and truffle jus.
