Fellow Hatchery lovers, not long ago I told you not to despair with the closing down of the Hatchery’s food and beverage incubator in Guomao. They said they would be back in full swing, and indeed they are! It’s time to embrace the blue skies we’ve been experiencing so far this summer and get the family out for some alfresco dining.

I took my bundle of joy out to the Hatchery’s pop-up at Opposite House’s Village Café. We sat outside and while I munched down on some of the new offerings on the menu, Lux was given a bowl of strawberries to devour. It was a beautiful summer’s day on Sunday, so I opted for a seafood appetizer and entrée.

If you ever dined at The Arcade by Hatchery in the Central Business District, you will know that they had an epic selection of burgers from their hatched brand Common Burger and delicious salads from Canteen. Their new menu is nice and concise, and has whittled down options to include only their best selection of burgers, sides, salads, Asian-inspired bowls of yumminess, and a few fusionesque delights.

I went for the Ceviche Classic (RMB 60), tender sea bass marinated in tiger milk with red onion, capsicum, coriander, and corn. I’m usually all over any kind of ceviche, as they’re fresh and light, and so perfect for summer daytime dining. This bowl was certainly fresh and matched well with my glass of Pinot Grigio (RMB 85), however be prepared for sharp hits of lime. If you like your ceviche a little on the citrusy tart side, this one is for you.

The New Zealand Mussels in Tomato and Black Olive Sauce (RMB 95) was delightful.  Served with grilled slices of ciabatta, a bowl of tasty mussels is never a bad choice come rain or shine. I also went for the Aloha Poke Bowl (RMB 90), yummy salmon marinated in a traditional Hawaiian marinade on a bed of sushi rice with a kale salad and kimchi.  If you fancy something sweet at the end of your meal, their signature house-made Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream is the way to go.

The outdoor area is great for summer dining with the kids

I particularly loved the dining areas here because of the laid-back and family-friendly environment. A baby seat was provided so that Lux could chill with me in the outdoor patio area and the service was smooth and welcoming. But don’t wait too long to get to the pop-up, it comes to an end on May 31. Enjoy!

Opposite House

The Village Cafe,Taikoo Li Sanlitun North, No. 11 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District (www.theoppositehouse.com) 10 6417 6688. 

Photos: Nicole Bonnah

Unashamedly, eating peanut butter straight from the jar has to be one of my favorite pastimes. If I fancy being a little more proper, I might dunk a slice of fruit into the jar rather than a spoon (or finger) and enjoy every bit of sticky yumminess that clings to the roof of my mouth. Any kind of nut is a good nut to whip and blend into spreadable gorgeousness, and no one knows that better than the dynamic duo behind Naked Nut Butters. They’ve taken Beijing by storm and shown us just how nut butters can be partnered with almost anything!

In this issues’ Food for Thought, we teamed up with Head Chef Simon of the east end incubators commercial kitchens, to show us how we can transform a mundane salad into an epic one using cashew nut butter, from the Naked Nut Butter range. Sweet and sticky nut butters have long been used to level up savory dishes, from the spicy but sweet Thai dish satay chicken to the west African delicacy spicy peanut soup. In keeping with this classic mix of savory with sweet, we saw that it was only fit to go naked nut butter crazy with a Chinese staple: choy sum.

Vegetables have a reputation for being the boring addition to a plate of food, usually overcooked and left sullenly on the side to remind us to consume our ‘five-a-day’. With China’s seemingly endless variations of fruit and vegetables, learning how to transform them using simple and tasty ingredients will serve you well. Vegetables, when cooked and dressed the right way, are fresh and flavorsome, and that’s why Chef Simone is really giving us some food for thought with this humble but appetizing recipe.

Ingredients

Dressing
– 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar (or use cider or rice vinegar)
– 1 tsp sugar
– 1 tsp salt
– 1 tbsp soy sauce
– 2 tbsp cashew butter
– 1 tbsp sesame oil
– 1 clove of garlic

Garnish/Salad
– 1/2 onion
– 1/4 cup cashew nuts
– sea salt
– 2 tbsp sesame seeds
– 1 cup choy sum

Instructions

1. For the dressing, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, white wine vinegar, salt, sugar, and cashew nut butter. Set aside.

2. Toast the sesame seeds in a small pan over medium heat until slightly brown

3. Thinly slice and fry the onion until caramelized and set aside

4. In a dry pan lightly toast the cashew nuts

5. Blanch the choy sum for 10 minutes until al dente or to your liking

6. Drain and place the choy sum on a dish and drizzle over the dressing

7. Finally, garnish the choy sum with the fried onion, cashew nuts, and a sprinkle of sea salt

This article first appeared in the beijingkids March 2019 Sustainability issue.
Photos: Uni You

Attended the Burger Fest or voted in our Burger Cup this year? Well, the fun ain’t over as you can now receive deals directly to your WeChat via our new Burger Lovers Club Card, which as of today is populated with four special deals from burger vendors and burger vendors only.

Yes, Q Mex (#4 seed in our 2018 Burger Cup), 3 Little Pigs (#11), Common Burger (#12), and Fatboy’s(#27) are offering you great deals to try their award-winning burgers via our new club card. Starting tomorrow, Aug 3, each deal entitles you to a percentage off or a freebie when you buy one of these vendor’s burgers and marks yet another step in our great experiment to keep you fed with the city’s best burgers.

Subscription to our Burger Lovers Club Card is completely free during this trial period. In order to take advantage of the initial deals as well as receive further deals in the future, simply follow the steps below. (You may in fact already have your card – you can check in WeChat by pressing the “Me” tab in the bottom right and then going to Cards & Offers.)

How to sign up

1) Scan the QR code below:

2) Click “Save in Cards & Offers”.

3) Navigate to “My Account” and enter your name, email, and phone number.

4) Follow the official account when prompted and now you have access to the above deals. Simply redeem the deal you want and show staff your coupon via WeChat at the venue prior to ordering (FYI: Each can only be used once and must be redeemed in the presence of the staff).

Now you’re signed up, here’s what you can look forward to:

Q Mex
Buy any burger, get one for free.
(Available at Sanlitun and Shuangjing locations – limited to 15 per day, confirm with the staff at the restaurant before claiming)

3 Little Pigs
Buy a bacon cheeseburger, get a gin and tonic for free.

Common Burger @ ARCADE by Hatchery
Buy one burger, get one free!
(Available from 6-10pm)

Fatboy’s The Burger Bar
Buy any burger, get the second burger half price.
(One-time use per table – for a burger at equal or lower price)

We’re still in our testing phase so please bear with us while we iron out the kinks. We’d also like to hear your experience with using the card – so please let us know at thepass@truerun.com.

If you ALREADY HAVE the card, but are not sure how to access it following the steps above, simply scan this QR code:

Happy eating, Beijing!

Photos: the Beijinger, courtesy of the venues
This post first appeared on our sister site, the Beijinger.

If you are particularly into food enough so that you may regard yourself as a foodie, then it is important to stay informed about what this magnificent city of Beijing has to offer. What we will focus on here is the family-friendly side of the spectrum, with a little dose of adventurous spice to slightly nudge you from your culinary comfort zones. Whether it’s the latest and greatest or something a bit off the beaten path, we’ll try to give virtual access to these places so that you can figure what best suits the tastes of your foodie family.

We understand that brunching in the hutongs isn’t always a pleasurable experience with all your little monkeys in tow. Considering there’s usually an obvious lack of western toilets, occasionally dirty facilities, and even navigating the maze of alleyways to find your destination can be a cumbersome task for some. This isn’t always the case though, and there are plenty of great eateries in these old neighborhoods just a stone’s throw away from convenient subway stations that are guaranteed to delight. One of our favorites is, of course, The Hatchery.

For the uninitiated, The Hatchery is a platform dedicated to supporting and growing China’s next generation of food entrepreneurs and concepts. Throughout their time in Beijing, they’ve tackled everything from burgers to Caribbean food, with a couple of different brunch offerings in the mix and have continuously been a crowd-pleaser throughout their tenure.

Last weekend, they kicked off their new brunch featuring Chef Simone Thompson’s take on classic weekend dishes. We were pleasantly surprised by the range of decadent mid-morning offerings, that would please the entire fam and didn’t hesitate a moment when they invited us over to check it out. Just feast your eyes on these pics for the moment and begin salivating before we continue to describe exactly what you are seeing.

We ordered the Buttermilk Breakfast, featuring a fried chicken thigh, maple syrup, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, 12-hour baked beans, and spinach. This plate pleased with its protein power and hearty but photogenic plating. Of course, the star of the meal was the buttermilk fried chicken, of which we no doubt wished there was more of than just a thigh, but we can’t blame them for not completely satisfying our overly gluttonous (and very much American) tendencies. Other than that, the scramble, sautéed mushrooms with spinach, and baked beans mixed nicely with each other and the occasional contact they made with the flow of maple syrup.

Next up was their take on French toast. As ubiquitous as it is necessary, this effort went far beyond what we typically see on a brunch menu. As we sat waiting for it to arrive the staff came over to express that it was currently being plated. We were slightly perplexed at why this bit of info was divulged, but when it arrived in all of its sweet grandeur, it became clear as day. Consisting of brioche pastry, chocolate butter, bacon, banana, candied pecans, and maple syrup, it was enjoyable destroying this delightfully conceptualized, abstract expressionistic display on the plate with our fork and knife.

The final thing that we would like to let you know as a figurative cherry on top is that in addition to having delicious offerings for mom and dad, the little ones can eat for free off the kid’s menu during brunch hours (11am-5pm). This gives the adults a bit more financial leeway to explore the satisfying brunch plates The Hatchery currently has on offer.

The Hatchery
8am-10.30pm, Sun-Thu; 8am-late Fri-Sat, 88 Dongsi Jiutiao, Dongcheng District (8950 8065) 东城区东四九条88号

Photos: Courtesy of The Hatchery, Kipp Whittaker

Whether you spent the morning with the kids in Chaoyang Park and need a refresher, or like me, have been looking for a kid-friendly meet up spot, The Hatchery has you covered.

They are kid-friendly with space to park your stroller (or strollers if you’re meeting fellow moms), high chairs to keep your kid in place, and child-resistant tableware so you can travel a little lighter (they have cutlery too!)

Best and most importantly, The Hatchery has given us all an incentive to dine with kids (rather than leaving them behind with a sitter) by offering a 50 percent discount on any one coffee, juice, or wine to moms and dads who bravely bring their kids with them!

Before you get judgmental on me, let me just say that I have my eye on the coffee (because I really need it).  Family and friends (without kids) can enjoy the same beverages for a 25 percent discount–and they can have wine if they want to.

Now who wants to schedule a mommy meetup?

Monday-Friday (closed Tuesdays). 10am-5pm. Hatchery. 12 Nongzhanguan Nanli, Chaoyang District.  朝阳区农展馆南里12号 (6594 0188)

Photo: courtesy of The Hatchery