The Year of the Horse is drawing to a close, but as the 2015 Chinese New Year is being celebrated, there’s controversy about whether we’re ushering in the Year of the Sheep, the Goat or the Ram. That’s because, as The New York Times explains in this story, “yang,” the Mandarin word for the eighth animal in the Chinese zodiac 12-year cycle of animal signs, is ambiguous; it refers generally to any medium-sized bovid. “Without further qualifiers,” the Times writes, “yang might mean any such hoofed animal that eats grass and bleats.”
There’s no such ambiguity, however, about the Chinese New Year dinner that’s being offered at Hakkasan Beverly Hills through the end of February. The eight-course dinner, which costs $138.88 (the number eight is considered lucky in Chinese culture) is flat-out terrific.
Under the stewardship of Michelin-starred global Executive Chef Ho Chee Boon, Hakkasan takes a modern approach to traditional Cantonese cuisine. (There are a dozen Hakkasan locations around the world, including San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas and Miami, as well as Beverly Hills, in the United States.) The New Year’s menu offered variations on some of the restaurant’s signature dishes, with courses that included grilled Chilean sea bass in honey; spicy prawns with lily bulb and almonds; stir-fried black pepper rib-eye; a dim sum platter, and a kumquat wishing tree dessert with chocolate, caramelized macadamia nuts and cocoa rocks.
As part of the celebration, guests in all locations were invited to write their wishes on red ribbons, which were hung from the latticework of the restaurants’ elaborately carved Chinese screens. Some wishes are also being shared on Hakkasan’s website.
Though the New Year’s menu is only available for a few more days, the restaurant can fully customize its menu and experiences for groups. And that’s sure to bring good luck to your next event, in this year of the gentle grass-eating bleating creature!
