True Boulud: The Secrets of Beijing’s Best Restaurant

You voted Maison Boulud “Best Restaurant of the Year” in 2010. You voted it number one again this year, giving the Ch’ien Men 23 restaurant a total of five awards in our 2011 Reader Restaurant Awards. We asked Executive Chef Brian Reimer about what it takes to cook up an award-winning restaurant.

Tell us something about yourself that few people know.

I applied to both West Point (UnitedStates Military Academy) and the United States Naval Academy. This had been a dream of mine growing up.

What were your favorite dishes as a kid?

My mother would make fresh potato bread – the smells that came out of the kitchen were amazing. My father and I would pull fresh tomatoes from the vine. And my grandfather’s black pepper-smoked bacon. Everything you needed to make the best sandwich of the year.

And something you hated but later grew to love?

It took me a while to enjoy blood sausage. We would take a pig at auction every year, and take it back to the ranch to slaughter. Without being too descriptive, I will say it was graphic.

What distinguishes a great restaurant?

Details. It’s the attention to detail and the follow-up to ensure the standards put forth are maintained and never compromised.

What does it take to maintain those high standards?

It’s a daily repetition of staff training, be it food knowledge or sequence of service. The one trait needed is the ability to learn.

What’s your favorite Chinese word or character?

Ren (忍) or “patience.” The character combines the characters for the blade of a knife and for “heart.” The truth of practicing this virtue is tiring, often painful and more commonly thankless. But in the end it’s truly the only way to strive towards one’s goals.

What dish on your menu are you most proud of?

We have had the baby pig paired with daikon sauerkrautand green apple coleslaw on the menu since we opened. It has never changed, and perhaps never will.

And what are your three favorite dishes at other restaurants in Beijing?

Tough to name just three, but the chilled spinach leaves with sesame and mustard oil at Made in China, the simple sushi and sashimi at Bei, and the salmon gravlax at Capital M.

We hear that Daniel Boulud is planning a Shanghai project.

He has been looking to expand in Asia – we recently opened a db Bistro Moderne in Singapore. If the opportunity comes to progress with Shanghai, we will certainly do so.