Michelle Obama's family's decision to dine at a celebrated restaurant specializing in the capital's most acclaimed poultry dish during her Beijing visit was anticipatable, considering their desire to sample Chinese fare and the US first lady's vision of healthier dining shared by the eatery. Ye Jun reports

Those who know Beijing's dining scene aren't surprised US first lady Michelle Obama's family chose Da Dong Peking Roast Duck Restaurant for dinner last evening. Perhaps least shocked is the eatery's owner, Dong Zhenxiang.

US President Barrack Obama planned to dine at Da Dong when he visited Beijing in 2009.

But the dinner was canceled for unknown reasons. The first lady also failed to show up for her reservation on Saturday, but her mother and daughters ate their hearts out.

Perhaps one of the reasons Michelle Obama made the reservation at Da Dong is that she's a high-profile spokeswoman for healthy eating.

She published a book on growing and cooking nutritious food in 2012. American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America features a section dedicated to healthy recipes.

Da Dong has a reputation for serving the capital's most delectable duck - and for developing a healthy menu.

Peking roast duck is a 600-year-old local specialty. It's available in big chain restaurants and every home-style eatery that offers Beijing fare.

While the dish's deliciousness has won it global acclaim, the abundant fat beneath the crisp skin has increasingly raised health concerns.

Dong Zhenxiang was among the first to re-invent the roasting technique and introduced "super-lean" duck in 1992.

The chef explains he noticed customers' growing demand for healthy fare then.

So he lowered the density of the maltose water applied to the ducks' skin, and prolonged drying and roasting times.

As a result, the birds he serves contain very little fat. But the skin remains crisp and melts in the mouth, while the meat remains soft and delicious.

Da Dong also tweaked other dishes to lower sugar, salt, oil and calories. And the owner nixed dishes made from wildlife or organs.

This, in addition to well-conceived presentation, has made the eatery a big name among not only Chinese but also foreigners.

The first lady's family ate at a table of 10 (the initial reservation was for 13, including Michelle Obama) and had pre-ordered two starters, 10 fried dishes, two Peking ducks and four staples.

In addition to cucumbers, they had pre-ordered five fried vegetable dishes that included braised aubergine, tender bamboo shoots, sauteed bean sprouts, broccoli and asparagus.

Other hot dishes included kungpao fried prawns, stir-fried diced beef, and fried kungpao chicken. These are very common choices among Chinese diners.

Obama's family pre-ordered dumplings stuffed with three delicacies (sea cucumber, shrimp and diced pork) and traditional Beijing noodles with soy paste - typical Beijing staples.

Sugar-coated apples are something she pre-ordered that few Chinese ask for.

But the dish is special to Dong. It's what earned him the gold at Beijing's First Cooking Competition at age 26.

"It's a practical and clever order," Dong says. "The combination of vegetables with duck is healthy and nutritious."

Noodles with brown-bean paste and jiaozi are home-style Beijing foods.

"They're good options and don't cost much," Dong says.

The original booking for 13 people would have cost 3,600 yuan ($578) - an average of 277 yuan per head.

Dong says that although not all the dishes the first lady's family ordered were "big dishes", the restaurant did its best to serve them as they should be - "pleasures for both the taste buds and the eyes".

Although Obama didn't ask for it, Dong wished he could serve her another signature dish - braised sea cucumber with shallots.

He says all gourmet countries have their top ingredients.

Japan has Wagyu and toro. France has black caviar, foie gras and oysters. The Netherlands has veal. Norway has salmon.

Dong believes sea cucumbers can be globally established as a Chinese culinary icon.

"The sea cucumber is something that can be farmed. It's healthy, cholesterol-free and contains lots of protein. Such a high-quality ingredient should be established as a national food."

Braised sea cucumber is a specialty of Shandong cuisine - one of China's four most important food families. China's first lady Peng Liyuan is from Shandong.

Obama will visit China's ancient city of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, and Sichuan province's capital Chengdu. Both are internationally acclaimed for their food.

A month ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping treated visiting Kuomintang honorary chairman Lien Chan to Shaanxi noodles, flatbread in lamb soup and sliced cake with mashed pork filling, known as "Chinese hamburgers".

Xi and Lien both hail from Shaanxi. So, the US first lady will have a chance to eat the hometown fare of the Chinese president.

Dong says the dishes for Obama's family were prepared "without particular elaboration".

He says the occasion has made him feel he's "not working for his own sake but out of a responsibility to present the best of Chinese food".

Da Dong's Tuanjie Lake branch, where the family dined last evening, is the restaurant's oldest locale.

It has long been a standard business meal choice of the British embassy, Dong says.

He says the restaurant tries to combine tradition with international culinary fashion to cater to a broad base.

It borrows aesthetics from Chinese painting and miniature landscapes. Dishes come with poems and prose. He calls this "art-concept cuisine".

These elements have helped Da Dong enjoy good business despite the past year's general nationwide decline of high-end dining - so much so that getting seats often requires standing in line.

Dong says about a third of diners are foreigners. And they're not only there for the duck, he says.

One thing that sets Da Dong apart from other duck joints is that it offers an array of other dishes.

Some favorites of foreigners are kungpao chicken, Alaskan crab, candied apples, passion fruit pudding and "squirrel fish" - a mandarin fish sliced so that its shape resembles the tail of the mammal after which the dish is named.

One reason foreigners enjoy Da Dong's dishes is that the flavors are mild and the presentation is similar to Western cuisine, Dong says.

He has engaged in international exchanges with chefs from Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and Spain - from where he has just returned after judging a cooking competition.

He says that, in the past, Chinese people's impression of foreign diners was that they don't eat meat with bones, and they like sweet-and-sour.

"But there are more exceptions now," he says.

"Foreign customers are more easy-going with the foods they eat than we used to imagine."

That's just one of the things that has changed about the outlook toward foreign diners - be they leaders or ordinary folks.

Traditional Beijing noodles with soy bean paste. Provided to China Daily

(China Daily 03/23/2014 page1)