Confessions of a gourmand

Braised beef cheek and prime beef tenderloin presented by Waldorf Astoria Beijing's French-style restaurant Brasserie 1893. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The beef comes from the venerated Japanese wagyu. In fact the cows are raised in Chile, regarded as one of the best places on Earth for such an enterprise.

The dish, prepared by Chargy, requires the beef to be stewed for 36 hours.

"Near the end of that process, cooling-off is needed to let the beef contract, which allows the savory and sticky juice to be absorbed deeper into the meat," Chargy says.

"Succulence is what we are aiming for, inside and out."

The result is a slice of heaven on the tip of my tongue.

Next, the chef challenges himself by offering another dish, this time featuring Stockyard Beef, an Australian premium brand named Grand Champion at the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show. Chargy stresses that this voting does not include any Japanese beef－so you are getting a taste of the very best twice.

Here he offers medium-cooked prime beef tenderloin－a classy way of doing justice to a classy cut of beef.

By this point the pressure is piling high for the remaining beef dishes, both dished out by Chargy's colleague James Wang, the chef in charge of Zijin Mansion. Wang, who is spare with his words, preferring to let his food do the talking, rises to the challenge with his braised beef ribs with pear, and later with wok fried beef with chili paste.

The pears are meant to offset the creaminess of the beef ribs－a perfect match especially when we are half way through this prolonged session of abandoning ourselves to the indulgence of our palates.

Speaking of creaminess,