2014 was a real banner year for SmartBeijing and our trusty little Fuji X10 camera. For the last 12-odd months, we've managed to get to just about every single new venue that opened in Beijing (read: just the stuff in Sanlitun and Gulou, really). It's been our pleasure to champion -- to quote our critical bible, the movie Ratatouille -- "the bold and the new". Armed with a thirst for knowledge, a thirst for truth, and a just a general unslakable goddamn thirst, we scoured and rated this grey city (again, just Sanlitun and Gulou), in the charge of a sacred mandate: find some stuff that doesn't suck. But whatever, if it sucks, that's alright too. We're easy. Thus, in the spirit of selfishly congratulating ourselves for our efforts, not to mention shamelessly recycling said efforts, herein is an arbitrarily and completely subjective list of our favorite new venues we went to in Beijing for 2014. Yeah, there's nothing shocking on this list, really. If you care enough to pay attention on what's new in Beijing these days, all these will probably be familiar to you. But mayhaps, kind reader, that speaks to the quality of said venues, that you've all probably already heard of these; they're bringing something worthwhile to the table and people are noticing. Of course, these meager kudos pale in import to the industry standard yearly awards traditionally meted out by more knowledgeable people in plaque format. But, hey, all the same, from us dudes to you dudes: good job, dudes. Feel free to print this out and post it above your urinal. Or not. ***
Bottle, Boot & Cigar
"You're looking at two smalls rooms of relaxed but reverent alcohol worship. On the shelves is all manner of liquid obscura, from whiskey, bourbon, and bitters, to gin and liqueur, to beer, absinth, and tequila."-July 2014 BBC gonna make you feel like a right gentleman. Opened by a San Francisco transplant back in April, BBC's been working on a slow-burn this past half-year, occupying its own little outpost in-betwixt the lux drinks kings Janes & Hooch, Parlor, Hidden House and offshoots, and the Japanese-style high-end drinks bars. It's not the only "bespoke cocktails" place in Beijing, but for our nebulous 100rmb-ish fee per drink, it's got the most heart and soul. Even though proprietor Douglas Williams possesses ample knowledge in the drunkening arts, he's kind enough to never lord that shit over you, making you feel dumb. That's what the mescal is for. We're still waiting on that old-timey cut-and-shave service though. What's up with that. ***
Dusk Dawn Club
"But the real selling point of DDC is the personality of the place, which is to say, the personality of its proprietor. 69's a character... 69's vision is to incorporate photography, design, fine art, and film with his initial love of music. To that end, he's created a stunning space in which to take in the culture. -July 2014 Combining a beautifully done renovated hutong venue with an enthusiastic and crazy eclectic live music program, for the past half-year, DDC's been a great surge of positive energy in the often apathetic Beijing live music circuit. Performances in all genres, talks, theater performances, art exhibitions, readings, workshops, food and drink expos -- this place is doing it all. DDC is trying and they're trying really hard. What's more, DDC is equally open to local, foreign, indigenous, and visiting talent, making it something of a unique fish in Beijing's medium-ish shark pool: It's a live music venue that's not run by a bunch of bastards. Oh you know it's true, you bastards! Just kidding. Luv u all. ***
Jing A Taphouse
"Jing A -- you've probably seen their delivery guy around town driving the "Jing A Keg Egg". I kinda hope he gets into an accident on that thing because I have the best headline planned for the situation:
SCRABBLED EGGS: 15 DEAD IN 4TH RING ROAD EGG CAR PILE UP"-September 2104 Truthfully, I don't get to Jing A as often as I'd like to, but it kind of seems like they don't really need it anyways. Like DDC, this is another place that's actually putting in lots of positive effort and it's paying off in that they're creating a little community around their product. They're always shifting and improving on their menu, they're always hosting interesting dinner events, they've reached out to the comedy people -- you've got to respect people who are showing heart in what they do. Gotta support when you can, which, for me, means sending them a fake internet award that I just made up 10 minutes ago. Muuuah! Kisses! ***
The Corner Melt
"Tasted like unwrapping a Sega Genesis Christmas morning. Tasted like hitting a tetherball just right so it spins all the way around the pole in one go. Tasted like Hulk Hogan leg dropping that commie Iron Sheik back to I-fuckin'-Ran, man!"-October 2014 Yeah, this one's on here. What can I say, I'm a fan. It's like if they can open this place, that means there's hope for us all. There's still hope. All your kooky schemes might work. All your restaurant ideas might work. For me, I want to open a restaurant that's like a 1950s diner, but instead of old movie stars and '50s rock icons, all the waiters and waitresses are historical dictators and despots. Like Mussolini sits you down and reads you the specials. Stalin is on roller skates with a tray of milkshakes. Pol Pot is MC'ing the twist competition. Yes, I know that's a good idea. Copyright, me. Don't steal that idea. But, yeah, the nice thing about The Corner Melt is that even though it seems like it's like a drunken barroom kind of idea, it's executed professionally and it's good stuff. It's not half-assed or amateurish. They care about their product, they work hard to make great stuff, and it shows when you pay them a visit. That's our running theme for today: care a lot about your thing. It shows. ***
The Taco Bar
"Yeah, food is still real tasty. It's good, man, it's good! What can I say. It's great! Believe the hype."-July 2014 In the space of just a year or so, this Taco Bar place went from a hip "secret" hutong restaurant to one of the highest profile places in town. Johnny Knoxville hangs out here. Johnny Knoxville. Is he on the mailing list or some shit? By now, everybody's tried it and everybody's got their opinion. It's definitely a different sort of animal that it was when it was operating off Fangjia hutong. It's bigger. It's slightly more pricey. It's got a more populist sort of feel. I don't really care about that though. For me, the food is ace. And the drinks are great. Every time I've been, it's been delicious. It's official: This is the backlash against the backlash. Calling it. ***
Cpearl
"But yeah, you're really going for the oysters, which are giant and luscious and delicious and sexy and succulent and wonderful, wonderful, wonderful." -November 2014 Originally, we characterized this place as a Shanghai import trying to wholesale implant a concept that works in that city into this city. (Pfffthh... that doesn't work at all, eh!) But just comparing it with other oyster outlets around town -- think Bombana's got a special on, as well as Brasserie FLO, who's been doing them for a while -- Cpearl's got them beat for breadth of selection. That's their main line. They're drawing from worldwide, utilizing a supple chain that's already working for them. You could make a case for Bombana and / or Brasserie FLO having better food, but for oysters, you should check out this place. And that's why it's a positive addition to this city. I just like oysters. ***
The (New) Mosto
"They've got a bit of a new look, a new focus, and a new food menu. The short take-away is thus: it's definitely worth revisiting if you haven't been in a little while. Lots of new and wondrous and fantastic things happening on the food and drinks menu."-October 2014 I don't really hit up this genre of dining very often, so the meal I had at Mosto when they reopened after redoing the menu really stuck out for me. If I was to pick my favorite "formal"-type, fine dining meal of the year, it would probably be my experience there. (Although, I did have a nice experience at Parnas as well, R.I.P). But yeah. Excellent and creative food, really great value for money, and really stellar service. So that's all you need: Great food, great value for money, great service. Doesn't sound all that hard. Get it fuckin' done, Beijing! See you in 2015! ***
