Bites: On your marks, set... bon appetit!

Come August, foreign dignitaries and well-heeled expats in search of French luxury dining in Beijing are likely to find themselves in Maison Boulud. The decidedly grand restaurant has been opened just in time for the 29th Olympics by Daniel Boulud (pictured), the New York-based Lyonnais chef whose Manhattan restaurants include Daniel and Café Boulud. Housed in stately premises that were once the American Embassy, it is indubitably aimed at those who want to forget the food miles and feel the foie gras.

Meanwhile, Dieter Müller, the German chef whose eponymous restaurant near Cologne is regularly rated one of the best in the world, has put two of his protégés, Christian Rosse and Philipp Vogel, in place as head chefs for the opening of an as-yet unnamed London dining room. Due to open in September in the revamped St James's Hotel and Club – insert gag about Teutonic efficiency here – for once no one is betting on a late opening.