Business as Usual(?) at Kro's

With the recent news of a very unamicable split between Olaf Kristoffer "The Kro" Bauer and his Chinese business partner Yuan Jie that has seen the former reportedly pushed out of the well-known Kro's Nest pizza restaurant, we decided to head up to the Gongti branch for lunch today to see what conditions are like on the ground.

It appeared to be business as usual, with a big, though what appeared to be exclusively Chinese (save for one table outside), crowd of customers. Service was efficient, the pizza came on time, the music on the stereo was still the same mix of Bowie, Metallica and Outkast, and we even managed to get a fapiao.

If today is anything to go by, the business no longer necessarily needs the laowai crowd to survive, though whether this consideration was a factor in the current fracas between Bauer and Yuan is an open question.

We approached a Ms Wang, who claimed to be in charge of the restaurant, for a comment. She was decidedly tight-lipped, and claimed "No one knows what's going on and we're not authorized to speak about the matter." Yuan Jie, in the meantime, was "unavailable," according to a staff member.

Of course this is not the first time local and foreign business partners have come to blows over a prominent Beijing business - you may recall the fate of Stone Boat late last year, and the troubles our own magazine and website experienced with a former publisher.

Meanwhile Bauer has agreed to speak to theBeijinger.com later this afternoon, so stay tuned for more.