An interior of Views Restaurant at Sunrise Kempinski Hotel, Beijing in Huairou district. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"Our chestnuts, chicken, pork and walnuts are all local, and our trout are daily fresh catch from locally-owned farms."

The idea to transform the former fine dining venue into a farmhouse restaurant started with a food trip the British chef had with the hotel's French general manager Brice Péan to a local restaurant.

"He took me to a local restaurant. The restaurant was busy. We tried the food, and they were so good!" Stone recalled. "We told ourselves that 'this is the food we should we serving', but we would present it in a more clean and five-star way."