Share a Table with The Beijinger's Dining Team at Chi Fan for Charity

If you've ever wondered what the life of a food writer is like, we're giving you a chance to ask us all your burning questions at our Chi Fan for Charity table at Pavillion Grill, hosted by myself (Marilyn) and our dining contributor, Josh Ong (full disclosure: we also happen to be married. Yes, to each other). We always get questions like "Do you really get to eat everything you want, for free?" (the answer's no) and "What do you do when you don't like the food but the person who invited you is sitting right there?" Don't worry, we'll answer those and more in detail the night of. But first, we thought we'd give you a taste of our conversations by getting us to interview one another:

Marilyn: So Josh, our managing editor's making us do this interview. You wanna work on it now?
Josh: OK, but I'm hungry. Can we get something to eat first?

M: Yeah. What do you want?
J: I don't know, anything.

M: Well we kind of have to narrow it down. Do you want Western food or Chinese?
J: What's the difference?

M: Oh gosh.
J: Well, it doesn't matter. Something delicious. And new, so that I can do tomorrow's blog post about it, since I haven't planned anything yet. And cheap, since I've already spent too much money on food this week. And preferably, they'll serve gummies for dessert.

M: I don't know a single place that serves gummies for dessert, unless you're talking April Gourmet or a select number of hotel brunches, namely Sofeastication at Sheraton or the one at Traders Upper East.
J: Are any of those new? Or cheap?

M: You are our dining contributor, right?
J: Yes.

M: Sigh. How about dumplings?
J: Depends. Will they be boiled, steamed or fried?

M: Doesn't matter. You can pick.
J: Well, I'm thinking fried. But I can't work while I'm digesting. And fried dumplings take a little longer to digest. Which means if we eat fried dumplings now, I won't be able to work for at least 73 minutes afterwards. How much time will this interview stuff take?

M: I don't know!!!!!! We probably could have finished it by now if you weren't being such a doofus!!!
J: I'm sorry! Don't yell at me!

M: OK, OK. Is it all right if you eat boiled dumplings, then … sweetums?
J: Yeah, sure. Will they have gummies?

M: ...

So, there you have it. But don't worry. They'll be feeding us well that night, which means Josh will be more focused, and Marilyn will be less cranky. We do apologize in advance for our rude but unavoidable smartphone use during dinner (it's kind of our job to document the things we eat), but we promise that we'll otherwise be on our best behavior. Meanwhile, we are not the biggest selling point. If you haven't had a chance to try Pavillion Grill just yet, this will be a fitting opportunity. Delish kebabs, fresh flatbread from their pizza oven, great wine and more. Sign up for our table here, and also check out other tables here.

Actually, we're both very honored to be hosting a table. The Starfish Project is near and dear to our hearts, and while Little Flower Projects are less familiar to us, we respect their work a great deal and believe strongly in orphan care. We'd very much look forward to sharing a meal with any of you who'd like to join us in supporting these two charities.

Sign up for our table here. Cost is RMB 800 per person, which includes a three-course dinner, two glasses of wine and entrance to the after-party at Hatsune. Of course, we also encourage you to browse around and check out all the other great tables and hosts here. We'll be featuring some of the others on our blog in the next couple weeks, too, so stay tuned!

Photo: Judy Zhou