June 18, 2007 6:25

Eating Beijing: High Roller Heaven

I made a visit a few days ago to the site of the latest gourmet extravaganza by American Chinese lawyer, restauranteur and bon vivant Handel Lee. Here he is on site looking spiffy in a panama hat.

Lee was the driving force behind the Three On The Bund project in Shanghai, a 1920s (actually 1916) vintage building on the Huangpu riverbank that hosts a bevy of high end restaurants including Jean Georges, the stratospherically expensive and in fact rather glumly serious temple to gastronomy from the megastar chef Jean Georges Vongerichtien. Now Lee is attempting to outdo himself in Beijing where years of patient labor in the halls of numerous ministries have secured him permission to renovate the former United States legation to the Qing Empire, situated just south of Tiananmen Square.

As the picture testifies, this compound was built in 1903, replacing the earlier buildings that were burnt down during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.

After the Communist victory in 1949, the buildings were initially give to none other than the Dalai Lama as his official residence in Beijing. Soon of course, the Dala Lama didn't have a need for a home in Beijing (he fled Tibet for India when troops Chinese took over Tibet in 1959) and the compound was taken over by the Foreign Ministry. It was later the site of the secret meetings between Henry Kissinger and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai which formed the basis for the groundbreaking China visit in 1972 by President Richard Nixon. (That's enough history, Ed.)

In its new manifestation, the Legation promises to be the capital's hippest new spot and a milestone in the capital's transformation, featuring no less than 6 upscale eateries, a clutch of bars and cafes (including several on rooftops overlooking Tiananmen), shops, an art gallery and an underground thater that will "present experimental plays, art-house and classic movies," according to the developer's plans.

Here's the site now:

And here it is as it will be when it opens early next year:

As you may note from the pictures, there's still a mort of work to be done. Whenever it opens, the prospect is mouthwatering for Beijing's foodies, or at least those with deep pockets. The Legation will feature a branch of the three Michelin star Enoteca Pinchiorri from Florence. Daniel Boulud, a New York superchef, will also opening a restaurant. So too will Hong Kong's Aqua group, which specializes in modern Japanese cuisine and has hired no less than the head chef at legendary Tetsuya's of Syndey to help launch its new Beijing eatery. There'll also be an upscale Chinese restaurant and a reincarnation of the once and future RBL, this time as a grill. Last but not least for the hip-shaking and karaoke crowd will come a nightclub dreamed up by the group who run the London club Boujis.