Egg in eggs, presented in a transparent tea bowl.[Photo provided to China Daily]

It's out with the white linen as a Beijing restaurant looks to include a touch of Zen at the table

When it comes to fine dining in Beijing, white tablecloths are often the calling card. Think of those traditional, formal French and Italian restaurants in five-star hotels in which the cuisine on offer is classic European fare. You can't really complain about that, even if sometimes it can seem a little humdrum.

Katie Li, a Chinese Australian restaurateur, reckons fine dining in Beijing is developing very slowly, particularly when compared with what is happening in Shanghai, and lags far behind Western countries.

"White tablecloths? That really is old hat," says Li, owner of the Tiago restaurant group, reflecting on a recent gourmet trip she made visiting some of the top fine dining restaurants in the world.