Word: m
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
There is a palpable increase in tension among staff at Beijing's hippest new eatery, Capital M, when Michelle Garnaut strolls in on a wintry evening, and it's hardly surprising. That's her initial in the restaurant's name, and the 51-year-old Australian is an industry celebrity - the pioneer of China's fashionable-dining scene, whose invariably popular ventures occupy iconic locations in their chosen cities. By her own account, Garnaut has come a long way from being a woman "famous for my bad temper" and a "detail-obsessed" micromanager who "drove everyone crazy." These days, "have...
...longer throw guests out of her restaurants for daring to complain, but Garnaut remains formidable. While chatting amiably, her eyes never stop roaming around the spectacular space overlooking Tiananmen Square that houses Capital M. A blown lightbulb is spotted and ordered changed. A faulty fireplace is dealt with. A quivering waiter is asked to recite the list of beers offered by the restaurant (he fails and is sent away with an admonition to do better next time, though not unkindly). The restaurant manager is summoned ("I shouldn't be doing this in front of a reporter," she says...
...Garnaut's first establishment, Hong Kong's M at the Fringe, was housed in a 97-year-old heritage building originally used as a cold-storage warehouse. (The landlord's decision to repossess the property meant that the restaurant had to vacate the premises in December and begin the search for a new home.) Her two Shanghai establishments - M on the Bund and the Glamour Bar - overlook the Huangpu River from the Nissin Shipping Building, built in 1921. They were the first ventures of their kind to grace the Bund since its prerevolutionary heyday. "At the time, everyone thought...
...Capital M's location is in Beijing's Qianmen project, an area of shops, hotels and restaurants purportedly constructed to give a flavor of the way Qianmen was before the communist takeover in 1949, when it was one of Beijing's livelier quarters. It doesn't have anything like the same degree of authenticity as the Bund, but the restaurant's spectacular view over the north end of Tiananmen - facing the two huge imperial gates - can't be beaten for sense of place. The location took seven years to find. Even then, a plan to open before the 2008 Olympics...
...Garnaut became Nineteen 97's highly visible manager during its heyday as a watering hole for bankers, socialites and local celebrities - a priceless opportunity that gave her contacts with some of the city's most eligible investors. By 1989 she had persuaded enough of them to back her in M at the Fringe...