Food and friends

I would like to blame Lillian Chou for the fact that I probably gained weight over the Spring Festival, but I probably wouldn't get away with it.

I ran into Lillian on my first day in Xizhou, the Dali village where the Linden Centre is located. That carefully preserved compound is run as a cultural center and boutique hotel by Brian and Jeanne Linden, and I was there partly to enjoy a few days in that laid-back community and partly to gather material on these two dynamic Americans.

Lillian, a chef and longtime food writer for Beijing city magazines and for Gourmet, was jubilant when I unexpectedly met her in the hotel restaurant.