Spring sensations
Beijing's most high-profile Chinese chef makes the season a succulent star at his Da Dong restaurants, Mike Peters reports.
No time of year inspires chefs to create seasonal menus like spring does. That first warmth, the shaking off of winter doldrums, the vision of tiny green shoots emerging from the soil all lead to produce markets bursting with some of the tastiest morsels of the year.
Nobody knows that better than Dong Zhenxiang, the Beijing-born impresario behind the Da Dong roast duck restaurants. He's been quite busy lately, scooping up Michelin stars for two Shanghai restaurants and preparing to open his first US outlet in New York in June. But he is clearly never too busy to enjoy this season of rebirth, when he gives his "artistic conception of Chinese cuisine" free rein.
