We're staying well away from Dairy Queen until they sort out their milk issues. The latest Chinese food scandal has put the American chain in hot water, after it was revealed that the dairy base used in their ice cream is outsourced to the same Chinese firm that also makes Baxi ice cream. Not only is this a huge policy no-no for the firm, the supplied base also has a far higher fat content than allowed under DQ's "low fat" advertising. Their “imported fruit jam” is also made domestically, Sadly disappointing, as no Chinese firm (to date) has managed to rip off a shanzhai version of their adorably-shaped soft serve, even though there's a a counterfeit DQ called Dairy Fairy here in China.

In the Beijinger's datebook is a pow-wow with Michelin-starred chef Yannik Alléno, when he flies in this weekend to visit his new concept restaurant, S.T.A.Y, at the Shangri-La at Xizhimen. Come September 16, we'll see how it measures up to its predecessor, the now-closed Blu Lobster. We'll have an interview with the man for you in the coming weeks.

The north end of Sanlitun's Bar Street is getting its Euro on, with Copenhagen-based restaurant Royal Cafe opening up Royal Smushi House in the old Butcher's Steakhouse space. Their main offering is the eponymous “smushi,” cute baby portions of Danish smørrebrød. We're interested to see how theirs compares to Modo's excellent “small plate” take on smorrebrød. Our favorite Modo version is a fabulously savoury salmon open-face, but we just can't get into the mushrooms they sprinkle on top. However, Smushi will not be dark woods and aluminium chairs; we can expect plenty of orange and white in the decor.
 

In Haidian food news, a new sandwich place has opened up two doors down from McDonald's in Wudaokou. Minzhi Zhixuan (明治之选) is a sweet hole-in-the-wall surrounded by dubiously-named hairdressing megaplexes (in my opinion, three floors devoted to the art of bad salon perm counts as a megaplex). A guinea pig from the Beijinger will be deployed shortly to ascertain quality; ’til then, fingers crossed for a sandwich purveyor in the ’Wu that doesn't start with “S” and end with “ubway.”
 

... And if you're feeling culturally amorous, Saturday is Chinese Valentine's Day. Read up about the holiday here, and please feel free to tell us what you'd do with that many magpies in the comments. Brasserie Flo, Le Pre Notre, Courtyard and plenty more restaurants are running couples' menus for the night. Gents, we don't have to tell you this is prime score-bonus-points-with-the-girlfriend territory, do we?
 

Photo: BHB Photography on Flickr