A flower painting inspires a colorful dish at Barolo in Beijing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"After years and years, you learn different skills and different cuisines, you research for new ingredients," he said. "And you can create your unique style. This is the best achievement for a chef."

However, mixing food and art is not simple. Good chefs should know where to draw the line between art and food. Afterall, it is the taste that matters.

"You always have to keep the taste of the dish, not just for the picture," he said. "You should taste it. You should be the first one to know if it is good or not. Sometimes something can go wrong. So you should find it out yourself first."

If you go

Barolo, The Ritz-Carlton, A83 Jianguolu, Chaoyang District, Beijing (010 - 5908 8151)

Also read: Pretty as a picture