For the first time ever, Eater turns its Heatmapping spotlight to Beijing, China, to discover the hottest drinking and dining options the city has to offer. According to freelance food writer/former Gourmet editor Lillian Chou, it's "hard to imagine" that Beijing's first private post-Communism restaurant opened as recently as 1980. "The slow influx of capitalism is now a gushing river, and China's capital is catching up with the rest of the world at record speed," Chou says. "Because there's no established history, the sky's the limit with innovative and mouth-tingling options that are causing a minor revolution. Beijing now has some great tastes and a booming appetite that will leave you licking your chops (and chopsticks)."
Chou shares her picks for the buzziest restaurants in the city: Italian food is having a rare moment in Beijing, with Neapolitan-style pizza and calzones arriving courtesy the brothers behind Bottega Fratelli Salvo; meanwhile, chef Omar Maseroli (of Mercante) dishes out handmade pastas at the romantic Fiume. Chinese- and European influences mingle inside the charcuterie and bagel cases of Traitor Zhou's Nonkosher Delicatessen, a hotly anticipated chef partnership that already has a second location in the works. And alongside solid options for Thai, dim sum, and Peking duck, two new restaurants specifically offer takes on comforting, home-spun classics (the Hunan-focused Southern Fish and Mama de Weidao, which literally translates to "mom's taste.")
Here now, and in alphabetical order, the introductory Eater Heatmap to Beijing:
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