A chip off the old block

With a hint of thyme here and a little fugue of garlic there, guest chef Jean-Marc Boyer weaves his South-of-France magic in the shadow of the Forbidden City.

Boyer, who snagged a Michelin star for his Le Puits du Tresor restaurant in a mere four years, was such a hit last year during a similar weeklong stint at Temple Restaurant Beijing that he's back again - this time in the open kitchen at new Temple sibling TRB Bites. The TRB Hospitality Group has become a burgeoning enterprise that now includes the special-events space Copper, TRB Catering, TRB Wine Club, the award-winning original on the grounds of a 600-year-old temple, and now the "modern casual eatery" Bites.

Boyer's mission is once again brief - he'll be on his way back to France by the time you read this - but the fruits of his labors will linger. At Bites, TRB's genial general manager Ignace Lecleir wants a rapidly revolving menu, adding four or more new dishes every 10 days. That means some of Boyer's creations - perhaps the savory sea bass I am sampling at a balcony table - will be around a bit longer than their creator. A visiting chef from Lecleir's home country of Belgium will take over the kitchen for a week in early November, generating more tasty bites at Bites.