The apricots look suspiciously green to guests touring the orchard at the Brickyard Retreat, but to head chef Randhir Singh they look perfect.

Singh doesn't plan to eat the fruits fresh from the tree - he'll grill them with some spicy lamb, then toss both with the salad greens he's just taken us to pick from the organic garden outside the restaurant kitchen. He'll serve it family-style with a number of raita (yogurt dip) for the lamb-themed dinner he's co-hosting at the Mutian-yu-area restaurant for the Carnivore's Club, with chef Steve Zhang from Feast at East Hotel Beijing.

"Having been a chef for almost 30 years and having worked in big five star hotels as well as small boutique restaurants, what I've always enjoyed the most is my mother's food that comes straight from the heart," says Singh, who's been combing his mother's home-cooking recipes for the one-night-only dinner on July 2.