Chinese to join global French feast on March 19

Pan-fried fresh sea scallop with fresh tarragon champagne sauce at Petrus French Restaurant in Beijing. (Photo provided to China Daily)

March 19 is going to be a special day for French cuisine lovers.

Some 1,300 restaurants all over the world, including 32 in China, plan to showcase the best of French gastronomy on that day by offering the public dinner menus that highlight French culinary traditions.

All of the menus will have a traditional French aperitif, a cold starter, a hot starter, fish or shellfish, meat or poultry, a French cheese (or cheeseboard), a chocolate dessert, French wines and digestifs, officials at the French embassy in Beijing said last week.

The event is inspired by Auguste Escoffier, who launched the Diners d'Epicure (Epicurean Dinners) initiative in 1912 to reach and serve as many diners as possible with the same menu in the same day at several world cities. This year's event started in November by its organizers, the French foreign ministry and French gastronomy's contemporary godfather, Alain Ducasse, one of the only few chefs who have amassed a total of more than 20 Michelin stars.

Ducasse chaired an international panel of chefs to select final menus proposed by the chef applicants, who are from establishments ranging from bistros to luxury restaurants.