Los Angeles, 1952: Johnnie Ray is storming the Billboard charts with a new sound that will eventually become rock & roll. And the superbly named Lovie Yancy opens the world’s first Fatburger.

Nearly 60 years on, I’m in the capital of the PRC, sitting with a Fatburger, Fat Fries, and a Coke, looking out through windows damp with spring drizzle at embassy concrete and razor wire. The burger (RMB 60, meal deal) does a good job of looking like its photo: aesthetically charred patty, neat shreds of iceberg, and cheese overhanging the bun at just the right angle. But this is fast food, inasmuch as I wouldn’t bet on it in a blind taste test against a McWhopper.

Fine-dining restaurant Domus is back, this time keen to prove it has a lifespan greater than a fast-growing supermarket chicken. The location is the same - just east of the Forbidden City - but the new management have roped in big name chef Dan Segall to design the menu, which promises French food at once “resolutely epicurean yet simple” - a description, incidentally, I wouldn’t hesitate to confer upon myself. Well, it’s half accurate, anyway. Expect classic fare like bouillabaisse, steak frites and duck confit, with starters in the RMB 80-100 range, and mains RMB 180+.

If I had a kuai every time a new restaurant opens at The Village at Sanlitun and its surrounding streets, I could probably afford some fish nuggets at Let's Seafood (two doors down from Let's Burger). To keep you apace with the gastronomic goings-on, here's a round-up of the new and coming soon.

The hottest thing about Sharon Stone’s character in Basic Instinct wasn’t her lack of panties – it was her ice picks. Here are ours:

A new branch of Gustomenta, the Italian gelato chain, is moving into the space soon to be vacated by April Gourmet on Xingfuxun Zhonglu (the strip running parallel north of Gongti in Sanlitun). April Gourmet is shuffling across the street into smart new digs.

Nearby on Xindong Lu, there’s more frigid fun to be had with the arrival of Swensen’s, an ice cream chain accompanied by sister restaurant Prima Taste Kitchen. Both Singaporean-run neighbors occupy the spot previously belonging to tapas joint Mare.

Across town in Nanluogu Xiang, another new gelato joint - Mr and Mrs - has commenced trading. You can find the happy couple about halfway down the street on the west side.

Alameer sets itself apart from Beijing's cherished handful of homey Middle Eastern cafes by also being a bakery that specializes in Arabic sweets. You'd never guess it was a bakery, though, from the mosaic walls and metal garden furniture – intended, perhaps, to evoke more verdant surrounds than the dusty office buildings of Xinyuanli?