The opening of Crystal , a restaurant offering Mediterranean cuisine, adds a new flavor to the variety of foods in the capital. Mediterranean cuisine includes food styles from Spain, Portugal, Morocco, as well as some Arabic countries, as well as a number of European countries such as Italy and France. The food at Crystal reflects many of the styles from these countries.

"Mediterrarean foods are generally light, but could be bold in taste," said John Kotas, chief executive chef.

That is because the great variety of the sauces available to use, such as bell peppers, tomatos, lemons, capers, cumin and olives. Of course, the use of olive oil is another important feature of Mediterranean cuisine. The oil, a secret of long life span in the region, enables chefs to make tasty and healthy dishes.

From Chicago, Kotas has 35 years of culinary experience, including 15 years overseas. He injects his own ideas into creating new dishes with a true taste of the Mediterranean, and making them agreeable to the palates of Beijing residents.

"What I would like to do is to take a list of ingredients from those countries, but give them a modern lift in presentation," Kotas said.

The restaurant is decorated in stylish Mediterranean style. The tableware and glassware are simple but elegant. A basket-shaped lamp formed by crystal bars light up each table with romantic soft rays. It is a quiet and beautiful place to have a different meal.

Average spending is 400-500 yuan per person for a complete dinner. The restaurant is currently offering a set lunch at 198 yuan per person.

The chef's recommendations are: Moroccan-style soup , four-season tapas temptation platter , Moors lamb shank ( Squid ink languine pasta and Chermoula crusted snapper .

Text by Ye Jun and photo by Yang Shizhong

11:30am-2pm, 5:30pm-9:30pm. 2/F Hotel Kunlun, 2 Xinyuan Nanlu, Chaoyang District. 6590-3388 Ext 5503.

(China Daily 03/28/2007 page9)