The Even

Wine Recognition in a City Rebuilding Its Fine Dining Identity

Beijing's serious dining scene has spent the better part of a decade recalibrating. The city's upper-tier restaurants no longer compete primarily on ceremony or historical pedigree; they compete on specificity, whether that means regional Chinese cuisines executed at a precision level, or beverage programs serious enough to attract international notice. It is in this second category that The Even, a restaurant in Beijing at No. 1 Xinyuanlixi, has drawn external attention. In June 2024, Star Wine List awarded the restaurant a White Star, a designation the platform reserves for establishments whose wine programs demonstrate editorial depth and genuine curation rather than a standard house selection.

The White Star is not a ubiquitous credential. Star Wine List operates as a specialist index, and its recognition functions as a signal within a specific comparable set: restaurants where the list is considered a serious document, not an afterthought. For Beijing, a city whose premium restaurant scene is still building its international wine credibility relative to Shanghai or Hong Kong, this kind of recognition carries weight. It places The Even in conversation with a small group of Beijing addresses where beverage curation is a primary editorial concern.

The Xinyuanlixi Address and What Chaoyang Offers

Chaoyang is Beijing's most internationally porous district, home to the embassy belt, multinational offices, and a restaurant population that ranges from Michelin-tracked Chinese specialists to wine-focused European formats. Xinyuanlixi sits within this district's denser commercial fabric, close enough to Sanlitun's activity to draw from its foot traffic while maintaining a slightly more considered address than the immediate bar-and-restaurant strip. Restaurants in this micro-location tend to attract a clientele that mixes Beijing's professional class with internationally mobile diners who know what a wine list should look like.

For context on the Chaoyang dining tier, comparison venues in the area include Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road) in the Taizhou cuisine category, and Chao Shang Chao in the Chao Zhou register, both operating at the ¥¥¥¥ price tier. These are restaurants where the kitchen is the primary credential. The Even's Star Wine List recognition positions it differently: here, the cellar or wine selection is part of the identity proposition, regardless of cuisine format.

Awards as Evidence: What the White Star Actually Implies

Wine list awards operate on a different logic than kitchen-facing recognition. A Michelin star or a 50 Best entry speaks to food, service, and overall experience. A Star Wine List White Star speaks specifically to the list's depth, producer selection, and the evidence that someone with real wine knowledge built and maintains it. Globally, wine-focused list awards have become a secondary market of credibility for restaurants that want to signal beverage seriousness to a particular kind of guest.

In Greater China, this matters because the wine-and-food pairing culture is still developing its vocabulary at the fine dining level. Shanghai's more internationally connected scene has produced a larger cluster of wine-serious restaurants; Beijing's pool is smaller. Receiving a White Star in June 2024 places the restaurant among a shorter list of Beijing addresses that can credibly speak to international wine guests. For reference, similarly oriented recognition in the region has gone to restaurants with strong connections to Chinese cuisine traditions paired with serious European cellar work, a combination that has proven commercially viable in Shanghai, Macau, and now increasingly in Beijing.

Those tracking fine dining wine programs across Greater China can cross-reference comparable restaurant contexts: 102 House in Shanghai and Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau represent the kind of comparable set against which serious Beijing restaurants with wine credentials are increasingly measured.

Beijing's Wine-Attentive Dining Tier: A Short Field

To understand the restaurant's position, it helps to map the broader Beijing premium dining scene. At the ¥¥¥¥ level, the city's most discussed restaurants include specialists like Lamdre in the vegetarian category, Jingji in Beijing cuisine, and King's Joy, which combines Chinese and vegetarian formats at the same price tier. These are restaurants whose reputations rest on kitchen credentials. Wine programs at this level in Beijing are variable; the White Star recognition suggests the restaurant has invested in a list that can hold its own against restaurants in other Chinese cities where beverage culture is more established.

The comparison extends further along the regional circuit. Restaurants like Ru Yuan in Hangzhou, Xin Rong Ji in Chengdu, and Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Guangzhou each operate within strong regional culinary traditions. The wine-serious diner traveling across China's major cities now has a short but growing set of addresses where the list deserves attention alongside the food. The restaurant joins that list as Beijing's contribution to the 2024 cohort of White Star recipients.

Planning a Visit: Practical Notes

The restaurant is located at No. 1 Xinyuanlixi in Beijing's Chaoyang district, an accessible address within the embassy and Sanlitun corridor. The Star Wine List recognition, published June 2024, is the restaurant's only recorded award. Given the wine program emphasis, this is a restaurant worth approaching as a destination for guests who want to pair seriously curated wine with their meal rather than treat the list as incidental.

For international wine-attentive dining comparisons beyond China, Le Bernardin in New York City and Emeril's in New Orleans represent different expressions of how beverage programs intersect with fine dining identity in other major markets. Within China, Dai Yuet Heen in Nanjing adds further regional reference for diners tracking Chinese fine dining across multiple cities.