Perhaps he was never away, but I've seen so little of Luga in the past year that I had wondered what he was up to. There was talk he was getting out of Beijing, had moved to America, or was planning to open a caviar lounge on the rooftop of the Workers' Stadium. And then the doors of a bar swung open and in he swaggered, Luga, legend of Sanlitun, with a massive grin on his face.

It was a good week in food. Yes, the weather is terrible. Yes, nobody else can breathe either. Yes, all of it yes, yes, yes. But you gotta focus on the positives of being in the Beej. Maybe you've got an ayi who'll wash your window frames for you. Maybe you have the luxury of supporting yourself easily (*cough*English teachers*cough*) while figuring out what you want to do in life. Maybe you're in a city where world-class cuisine is comparatively cheap. So, y'know, go out and get some this weekend.

(Oh, and in case you forgot, we ran this little pizza competition a while back. Now we're throwing it a party. Keep reading for details and more food news.)

OK, pub quiz fans. See that building in the photo above? Ten points if you can tell us what it's going to be used for ...

So the prodigal son returns. Kro is back in Sanlitun. The new location is smaller than the Xiaoyun Lu place; it seats 150. Same totally boss graffiti art we know and love. Lots of windows, lots of light. A huge, glossy private room behind a glass door (we weren’t allowed to take a photograph). Wi-Fi that chugs along like a sweet little trooper. The interior is the same black industrial-meets-twisted forest scheme that works so well at Xiaoyun Lu. Service was excellent – even deferential – on a late-lunching Tuesday, with no less than three staff personally attending to my pizza needs – and I’m not even that needy. 

Zach Lewison, Kro's culinary director, mentioned that they want the new Kro’s to be a pre-party place. Scantily-clad girls of the “Tun,” Mr. Lewison wants to feed you before “releasing” y’all upon the party scene. “We don’t want people drinking on an empty stomach, now,” he told me. True that, sir, true that. He also told me how you can get 600-kuai worth of pizza for free. 

With his "comeback" branch comfortably bedded in up on Xiaoyun Lu, it was only a matter of time before pizza godfather Olav "Kro" Bauer staked a claim for a share of the Sanlitun turf lost following his well-documented split with former business partner Yuan Jie. (If you don't know that story, catch up with a selection of reports here.) Well, for fans of huge, topping-loaded pizzas, the time has come - a new branch of Kro's Nest opened on Monday (August 29) in the Sanlitun Nanlu yard that houses The Bookworm, d lounge, Nanjie and Salsa Caribe.