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Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

You may know it as the intimate old-stager across the street from the Lufthansa Center, so be prepared for a surprise at the Adria's new location near Capital Mansion.
In place of the low-lit, low ceiling traditional trattoria -- sadly scheduled for demolition -- you'll find an airy two-story building decked out in youthful sky blue with a lemon-souffle interior. Come summer, you'll even be able to enjoy dinner in the roof garden.

What hasn't changed, however, is the quality of the kitchen. The cooks from the old Adria have all moved across to the restaurant's new home, including head chef Stefano Viola - who arrived just over six months ago from Rome by way of a stint in Singapore.
The menu has also survived the move intact. It's an extensive document, but concentrates on fairly simple fare, with nothing too outlandish for local palates. It also retains its concern for giving value for money. Pizzas run between 42 and 78 yuan, while meat main dishes cost from 70-138 yuan. If fish is your thing, it starts at 78 yuan for grilled salmon and goes only as high as 108 yuan for deep-fried king prawns. A three-course business lunch can be had for as little as 48 yuan (top option comes in at 88 yuan).

Stefano treated your BTM taste team to a tailor-made menu beginning with a variety of toasted breads -- smothered respectively with olive, anchovy and garlic, followed by an attractive array of antipasto. The cold meats, especially the prosciutto, were the highlight of this section; to be frank, the mozzarella left quitea lot to be desired. This was hardly surprising, though, as in four years I've yet to taste a decent mozzarella in Beijing. Please call Les Charlton at BTM immediately if you know where we can get one.
Next up was a tagliatelle with tomatoes and mushrooms, which was greatly approved by our Chinese tasters (quote: "These noodles are great! Not all that sour tomato taste like usual Italian food"). Since this was lunchtime, that was as far as our stomachs could stretch -- on previous experience, though, you'd be well advised to leave some room for dessert.

The move has been bad for business so far, as the new location is not quite as user-friendly as the old. Plenty of loyal customers have made the move already, though, and more are sure to follow as the new institution beds down.
The Adria name is a local legend, so much so that general manager Chen Huanren says Italian visitors to the restaurant have bumped unexpectedly into old friends on many occasions.