Thanks to modern transportation, Chinese people can now enjoy a wider choice of delicacies cooked with new methods, such as baking using an oven. This is apart from traditional steaming, frying, and braising. As long as the taste remains "Chinese", the food is Chinese, Yang says.

By "Chinese", he means what is universally acceptable to the Chinese palate. Cheese and steaks are not "Chinese", he adds as examples, because most Chinese people don't eat them.

The most impressive dish I had in the restaurant was the dessert, frozen persimmon, an innovation from Yang's childhood snack.

Beijing is cold in autumn and winter, and people often froze mature persimmons to store them in the past.

To eat them later, people just put them in slightly warm water to let the ice thaw, and then the flesh inside would become soft and sweet.

It was of great fun to eat the sweet persimmons with a spoon, Yang says.

The version I ate was almost the same, except Yang caramelized the surface of the fruit, and added dried fruit that are common in Beijing snacks, including dried grapes and hawthorns, to enrich the dessert's flavor and textures.

I also liked the stewed puffer fish, which contains lethal toxins in various internal organs but is considered a delicacy in both China and Japan, with unmatched tender texture and fresh flavor.

The fish liver was exquisite, smooth and savory, and the meat was so tender and fresh that I couldn't restrain myself from having more. Even the skin, usually the least pleasant part of a fish dish for me, was delicious and appetizing.

Other dishes I had, including Sichuan pickles, arugula with sesame sauce, turnip spring rolls and mushroom soup, were also tasty and looked appealing.

Yang says he is a Chinese inside and outside, and he opened the restaurant in a hutong near the Bell and Drum towers because the area is at the core of old Beijing.

But I was impressed that he serves the food using individual plates, not family-style communal dishes traditional in China. Separate servings, Western style, will be the new trend on the Chinese dining scene, because today's Chinese people want to dine elegantly, with healthy and tasty food, rather than just to fill up the stomach, he says.

The restaurant offers a set menu through Wonderworld, a private kitchen platform app.

If you go

Noon-2 pm; 5-9 pm; 13 Caochuang Beixiang, Dongcheng district, Beijing.

Call to reserve at least one day in advance: 010-8580-1771 or 136-21392-877.

Related:

Call of the turtle

A chip off the old block