CHINA DAILY’S SUSTAINABLE FOOD & TRACEABLE WINE DINNER,
YI HOUSE BISTRO, GRACE BEIJING HOTEL

Article: Randy Lee Svendsen     Photos: by Don Cody & Grace Beijing Hotel

Dear Cherry,

I am becoming increasingly interested in the culinary offerings at the boutique hotels in Beijing, and Grace Beijing Hotel’s Yi House bistro is one of the best of them.  For information about this hotel I include the following from their website: “Grace Beijing is a member of the award-winning Grace Hotels® group.  It lies in the heart of Beijing's famous 798 Art District, a thriving cultural center that is one of the city's leading tourist attractions as well as a focal point for the world's fashion and art community.  The hotel perfectly mirrors today's China with its subtle combination of modern and traditional.  Under its former name ‘Yi House' the hotel has already gained a local and international reputation and was named in the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler Hot List 2011.  The hotel has 30 luxury rooms each with its own unique contemporary decor.  Our modern bistro with its superb wine cellar has been named ‘Yi House' to honor Grace Beijing's origins.  The property is a feast for lovers of design and art.  From the striking furniture and muted colors of the lobby to the bolder colors of the bedrooms - all complemented by a modern take on Ming Dynasty décor and an abundance of beautiful contemporary art.  Meanwhile just a few steps away from the hotel are an abundance of street art and the many art galleries that define 798.  With our unique Bespoke by Grace service you can tailor your stay to your exact needs.  The charm and elegance that is Grace Hotels is now available in Beijing - China's cultural and political center.  The city is renowned for its opulent temples and palaces including the Forbidden City that was built for the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty and opened in 1421.  Beijing's art, architecture and treasures make it a wonderful tourist destination.  Grace Beijing offers the perfect city escape for anyone on business or vacation looking for international standards of luxury and service.  Food and drink is a vital aspect of the Grace experience.  As at all Grace Hotels, guests receive our signature champagne breakfasts.  At cocktail time step into ‘Bar 798' and savor our very own Grace cocktail - an enticing combination of Grey Goose vodka, pear purée, apple juice, and lemon grass.  Dining at our Yi House bistro is one of the best gastronomic experiences in the city, serving a modern combination of Mediterranean and Asian cuisine with a strong emphasis on seafood.  Yi House, under the direction of chef Christian Hoffman, offers diners a relaxed ambience and exquisitely prepared dishes complemented with fine wines from our extensive cellar.  The décor is a modern take on the Ming Dynasty aesthetic with striking monochrome photography.  Take in the outdoors with al fresco dining on the terrace, which is available during the summer months.  Private dining, perfect for special occasions, is also available at the Yi House restaurant, with two private dining rooms which can be booked through the hotel concierge or directly with the restaurant.”  For more information about this innovative hotel visit: http://www.gracebeijing.com/.
A very important event was held at Grace Beijing on January 16 to emphasize the critical need to improve food and beverage safety and quality in China.  This special event was proudly presented by The China Daily Readers’ Club and organized by Pauline D. Loh, Managing Editor - Sunday Edition of China Daily.  Working with the support and enthusiastic endorsement of Yves Godard, General Manager of Grace Beijing, Ms. Loh teamed with Christian Hoffman and Liu Peng, Chef and Sous Chef to develop a special organic and sustainable menu including organic and natural foods, and wines that are traceable to international standards.  I was honored to be one of the 62 guests invited to enjoy this wonderfully informative evening of great food and wine.  Through a rigorous investigation of available products, the team decided that for this special dinner, organic produce would be used from Ji Yunliang’s De Run Wu Organic Farm (jiyunliang@vip.163.com), organic ham from Yunnan’s Lijiang area, mackerel from New Zealand, and natural beef from Tasmania, which is known for its clean air and unpolluted waters.  These pure and natural foods were paired with 1421 Admiral’s Reserve Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from Xinjiang Province, the first “Traceable” Chinese wines in the world.  The traceability system is a supply chain solution developed by METRO China’s Star Farm initiative, which is a quality control program incorporating international standards such as Global Good Agricultural Practice (GLOBAL GAP) and International Featured Standards (IFS).  Star Farm’s traceability system records all stages of production, processing and distribution from the vineyards to the shelf in the stores.  Consumers can scan the traceable barcode on the wine label with their mobile phone and learn the whole process.  1421 Admiral’s Reserve traceable wines can be found in all METRO stores in China.

The Organic and Sustainable Menu for this special dinner included:

APPETIZER
Aged Yunnan free-range ham with organic greens,
soft-boiled organic egg,
cockles and shaved Parmesan

SOUP
Organic carrot soup with pumpkin oil and farinette

HOT APPETIZER
Grilled wild mackerel on ginger ponzu sauce with
organic Asian vegetables and snow water steamed rice

MAIN COURSE
Natural Tasmanian sirloin, bordelaise sauce,
organic Jerusalem artichoke and winter vegetables

DESSERT
Organic shanzha (hawthorn) palette

I arrived early at 5 for a Martini in Bar 798 and Bartenders Steven, Bill, Sky, and Chris were poised and ready to greet the guests who would be arriving soon.  I had a good talk with Shirley Yao, Restaurant Manager, and Dora He, Assistant Restaurant Manager, about the schedule for the dinner and the menu.  As guests began arriving around 6, I proceeded to the hotel lobby for the 1-hour reception with hors d’œuvres and 1421 Admiral’s Reserve Chardonnay.  The hors d’œuvres being served by the professional and polite staff were all very good, including:         

- Baked Escargots in Lemon Thyme Butter
- Mini Pizza Fennel with Grilled Scallops
- Gruyere Cheese in Nouvelle Potatoes wrapped with Pancetta
- Organic Frittata with Home Made Spanish Sausage
- Wild Mushroom Shooter with Herb Crisp
- Foie Gras Mille Feuille with White Zinfandel Gelee
The Escargot served with toast was fabulous, amongst the best I have had, and most interesting was the Wild Mushroom Shooter, which had a warm cluster of chopped mushrooms on an herb chip perched on the rim of a shot glass filled with a puree of wild mushroom.  This was very interesting because first you start eating the chopped mushroom preparation on the chip, then add the shot of mushroom puree and chew everything together and the whole experience was so wonderful!  Wash this down with the cool and clean Chardonnay and you have a delightful combination of flavors.  Following a lot of meeting and greeting, we were kindly escorted to the dining room of Yi House bistro for some brief speeches and our dining experience.  Ms. Pauline D. Loh opened with an informative discussion of the current state of food and beverage safety and quality in China and outlined the importance of improving the situation as soon as possible, and that China Daily has, and will continue to, support all efforts to improve food and beverage safety, sustainability, and quality in China.  This was followed by a few words from our host for the evening, Mr. Qu Yingpu, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Daily, who discussed efforts under way at China Daily to positively impact the environment through action, not only words.  Others spoke about the wine from 1421, the produce from De Run Wu Farm, and Roberto Pecciccia, Head of Operations Asia for Grace Hotels, welcomed the guests to his hotel and discussed the commitment of Grace Hotels to healthy food and beverages for guests in all Grace hotels.  Our first course was the Appetizer of Aged Yunnan Free-range Ham with Organic Greens, Soft-boiled Organic Egg, Cockles and Shaved Parmesan Cheese.  This was excellent!  I loved the great ham from the little Black Pigs of Yunnan that “wander freely on the mountains drinking spring water and grazing on herbs and wild mushrooms.” (From Irene Deng’s article ‘Eating Organic, Cooking Organic’, January 15, 2012 China Daily).  The ham reminded me of Prosciutto or Pate Negro in its consistency, but it was different with excellent flavors all to its own.  I want to know more about this special ham from Yunnan, and I am looking forward to eating more of it.  We accompanied this dish with the clean Chardonnay, which displayed crisp acidity and minerality that cut the richness of the ham and paired well with the egg, greens, Parmesan, and the clams seasoned with sea salt and organic oils and vinegars.  This was followed by Organic Carrot Soup with Pumpkin Oil and Farinette.  The soup was smooth and had a foam on top, maybe pumpkin oil, which added a different flavor that made the soup more interesting.  It was good, and also paired well with the Chardonnay.  Next was the Hot Appetizer of Grilled Wild Mackerel on Ginger Ponzu Sauce with Organic Asian Vegetables and Snow Water Steamed Rice.  The fish was very tender and I loved the sweet ginger sauce.  The Bai Cai vegetable was tender too and soaked up the sauce.  A Xiang Gou mushroom cap and fresh cilantro were used as a garnish.  This was truly delicious and great with either the Chardonnay white wine or the Cabernet Sauvignon red wine, which was also served with this dish so the guests could experiment with both and make their own decisions about which wine they preferred with this highly flavorful dish.  At my table, some of the guests preferred the red and some preferred the white.  I went back and forth between the 2 and liked both of them, but I am easy, I love wine!  That is what is so much fun about wine, whatever wine YOU like is the BEST wine for you!  The main course came next, Natural Tasmanian Sirloin, Bordelaise Sauce, Organic Jerusalem Artichoke and Winter Vegetables.  This was a creative winter preparation, great for a cold January night.  I liked the flavor blend of the artichoke and hearty root vegetables with the sauce and I enjoyed the spicy Cabernet Sauvignon with this dish.  Our final course was Dessert, Organic Shanzha (Hawthorn) Palette, a dessert platter combining three tastes of organic Shanzha; mille feuille, mousse compote, and ice cream.  The Shanzha fruit looked like a crabapple and tasted tart and sweet, served naturally sliced and dried in a sandwich of natural fruit on both ends.  There was some pound cake with a glaze of Shanzha, pistachio, and a ball of ice cream.  This was an excellent dessert, very unusual! 
Following the dinner Qu Yingpu, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Daily, made some closing remarks and thanked the sponsors and guests, which I quote here from Mike Peters’ article ‘SUSTAINABLE, WITH GUSTO’, Sunday January 29, 2012 in China Daily, “We are very aware that a new food revolution is happening.  In the home, we are increasingly conscious of food safety and good health.  As a country, we have larger concerns.  We are making efforts to control and minimize pollution, to protect our environment, and make sure there is agriculture sustainability.  We also know these must always be on our collective radar if we are to keep feeding our population of more than 1 billion people safely.  This is the reason why China Daily champions the cause of organic food and sustainability and applauds the effort of those who take the responsibility of telling consumers what they are eating and drinking and where it all comes from.”
Everyone continued to enjoy the wines and talk about our dining experience, the subject of sustainable, organic, and natural foods, and traceable wines.  It was a truly exciting evening of great fun, food, and wine.  As the guests began to leave, they were presented with a bottle each of the traceable 1421 Admiral’s Reserve Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon to enjoy over the Chinese New Year Holiday.  This wonderful dinner was an informative learning experience that shined a bright light on the importance of food safety and quality in China.  My sincere thanks go to Pauline D. Loh of China Daily for conceiving this great event, and to Chefs Christian Hoffman and Liu Peng for creating the exquisite menu, and to Shirley Yao and Dora He for doing a fantastic job of organizing this important dining experience.  Literally everyone appeared to have a great time and based on the lively conversations, laughter, and confirmation that great organic foods and traceable wines actually do exist in China, everyone departed into the cold of the night with a warm sensation of sweet satisfaction.
CHEERS!

My Best as Always,

Randy