Culinary specialists reveal the magic hidden away in ice

As high-end restaurants and hotels push to make meals entertaining, ice artists are coming out of the workshop and into the dining room. Zhang Xuan and Mike Peters chat with a father-son duo of Filipino chefs

As hotel chefs and staff prepare for a dinner in China's capital, two men at the entrance are working up a sweat - despite being literally centimeters from a huge block of ice as big as they are.

Their chisels are flying, but the old saying "let the chips fall where they may" does not apply. The gawking onlookers can't see the design lightly sketched on the frozen surface, and they watch as an eagle suddenly emerges from the shapeless form. Winston Hernes and his son, Mark Wilson, have crafted the aquiline logo of Garuda, Indonesia's national airline and the sponsor of a food festival at Beijing's Kempinski Hotel.