Chef brings new twists to Beijing grill fare

Grill 79, China World Summit Wing's 79th-floor Western restaurant, now offers fresh caviar for the first time as chef Deivid Paiva takes over the kitchen. Guests can savor premium Imperial Beluga caviar, famed for its pearly gray eggs, full body and rich, creamy flavor. The restaurant also offers a caviar tasting tray, with an array of Siberian, Amer, hybrid and Russian varieties of caviar to give guests an overview and a sampling of this prized roe.

The caviar offerings are just part of Paiva's shake-up of a menu that previous was all about big hunks of meat. There were so many steak options that diners struggled to make choices, he says, so he's streamlined the meat list to the best cuts and added breadth with options like caviar and premium seafood.

The refreshed a la carte menu is designed to "use fresh herbs to create invigorating and memorable flavors," he says. "When you respect every vegetable and meat that goes into your kitchen, even as underrated as a carrot, only then can you call yourself a true cook."

Paiva began his career at five-star hotels in his native Portugal, and his experience also includes two-and-half years in an award-winning Michelin-starred restaurant in Ireland, where he was on the team that hosted Queen Elizabeth II at a gala dinner in Dublin in 2011. He later moved to United Arab Emirates to lead culinary teams at award-winning restaurants there and at Shangri-La Hotel, Doha as chef de cuisine of Yabby.

New appetizers include comfort soups, robust salads and a savory flourish from the chef, his foie gras parfait, a playground of textures with foie gras mousse nestled on chestnut soup, pine nut and crispy granola. The Alaskan king crab salad with caviar is a refreshing combo of fresh crab meat, caviar, crispy nori, avocado, micro greens, cucumber, and sesame dressing. Salad lovers eager to post lovely food photos on WeChat won't want to miss the roasted beetroot and pickled melon salad, which also boasts tangy flavors of goat cheese, pistachio, mixed greens, honey and balsamic vinegar.

Main courses also include tempting seafoods. Poached halibut is slow-cooked in citrus oil parsley puree, green lentil ragout, baby vegetable, saffron-lemon butter; grilled black tiger prawns sing with red-pepper escabeche, potato croquette and scallops vinaigrette; succulent silver cod comes with green pea puree, bean cassoulet, baby scallops and saffron lemon butter.

Hearty premium beef options still include various wagyu cuts that Grill 79 is renowned for. New creations include the signature Duo de Beef - slow-cooked wagyu beef cheeks and grilled beef tenderloin served with carrot puree, scallion, baby vegetable, smoked potato and beef jus infused with Herbs de Provence. A tempting option we didn't try: Trio of Lamb served with carrot puree, scallion, baby capers, smoked potato and lamb jus infused with pickled garlic.

If you don't save room for dessert, you may miss chef Paiva at his most creative. Five new desserts include "H2O Melon", a refreshing sweet and sour dessert of yoghurt parfait, compressed watermelon and lime jelly, designed to be light and healthy. Coconut Rock, meanwhile, is a colorful construction with roasted frozen coconut, moist banana sponge and passion fruit chutney. Valrhona Manjari Chocolate and Raspberry is a rich blend of ginger broth, dark chocolate namelaka and raspberry gel.

All of that is served with a commanding view of Beijing - if you schedule your visit on a clear day. It's worth planning carefully.

If you go

Grill 79

Daily lunch from noon to 2:30 pm and dinner from 5:30 to 10 pm, China World Summit Wing hotel, No1 Jianguomenwai Avenue, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-8571-6459.