Change, the new constant

I confess I was a bit taken aback to hear that Temple Restaurant Beijing, often lauded as the best restaurant in the capital, was abandoning the more laid-back format of its elegant spinoff, TRB-Bites. The company has reshaped the child more in the image of the father, to deliver the same fine-dining experience, the same menu and the same superb wine list at both locations.

Bites is now TRB-Forbidden City, with same great view of the imperial palace's east gate.

"So far so good," ever-dapper owner and founder Ignace Lecleir says of the new space, which reopened just this week and already has TRB's polished look and feel. "But as always, anything new takes a bit of time to iron out the wrinkles."