The Deep Dish: Head East and Experience the Grand Space of The Granary
In the lead up to our September 16-17 Pizza Fest in Wangjing Soho, The Deep Dish will be previewing a few of the restaurants that you can expect to see slinging their thick, gooey, and tomatoey slabs of doughy goodness. Now that you're hot and dribbling, let's go!
Marooned out just north of Shuangqiao subway station, in the disheveled and overgrown Dream 2049 International Creative Industrial Park, sits a grand and polished renovated granary waiting to water and feed you. Part restaurant, bar, and livehouse, The Granary is a large and brushed concrete open space with varnished wood tables and leather stools, with perhaps one flaw: it has yet to find a hungry crowd to fill it, with only a singular customer upon our visit making the most of his Saturday afternoon.
That doesn't distract from the fact that this is a venue that is pleading to be used, whether it be for music, a burger, or a casual pint. Although the musical offerings have fallen to the wayside as of late, owner Yuan Wentao hopes to make DJ nights a regular fixture, and the kitchen is as staffed as ever.
The Granary won't be serving pizza for the upcoming Pizza Festival (or that burger), instead they've opted to bring a range of tapas and snacks that'll include cheese potato boats, Parma ham, pulled pork meatballs, bruschetta, smoked salmon, and the like, bringing a touch of class to the proceedings. Even so, Yuan gave us a taster of what his head chef, who he poached from the Kempinski, could rustle up in a pinch.
Sitting on a thick and slightly crumbly cornmeal crust base, a thick layer of browned cheese provided the glue for the pizza's half-and-half toppings: steak, and the slightly less conventional ham, potato wedges, and corn. The steak side, being decidedly decadent and simple at the same time, turned out the favorite thanks in large part to the generous chunks of perfectly cooked and juicy meat. The Dominos-esque medley side was filling but slightly let down by the crumbliness of the potato wedges.
No fear there though, as another of The Granary's strong suits is their limited but well-curated range of bottled beers courtesy of import company Drinking Buddies. The fridge tilts largely in favor of English brews but you'll also find bottles from Japan, the Netherlands, as well as domestic brews; Wuhan No. 18 Brewery's Tiao Donghu IPA made for as fine a summer's drink as the label suggests. Behind the bar, they also have a couple of Jing-A brews on tap, as well as the usual assortment of mixed drinks.
All in all, it's hard to fault The Granary. If it was closer to town, it would be guaranteed to garner buzz throughout the week, especially with the addition of live music and DJ nights. We'll hope their presence at the Pizza Festival can get the word out and hopefully lead some of Beijing's more adventurous diners to go east.
P.S. If you do go, make sure not to miss the toilets – they're a thing of tuhao bliss.
More stories by this author here.
Email: tomarnstein@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tom Arnstein
