RIYADH: A world-renowned New York restaurant has opened its doors in Al-Athriya, one of Riyadh Season’s 14 zones, offering Saudis the chance to sample Phillippe Chow’s luxury Beijing-style cooking in their backyard.

“We have a lot of clients that are from Saudi Arabia and the UAE who enjoy Philippe’s cuisine and when they come to New York it is one of the must-go places for them,” Abraham Merchant, president and CEO of Merchants Hospitality, told Arab News.

Chow began his journey in cooking as a teenager in Hong Kong, China. There he developed and perfected his passion for authentic Beijing-style cooking.

In 2004, the first Philippe Chow restaurant opened its doors in New York near the busy Fifth and Madison Avenues and has been an international favorite for over 17 years.

The restaurant prides itself on offering luxury and authentic Beijing cuisine, served family-style for diners to enjoy.

“It’s an amazing brand. It’s one of those cuisines that you know you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about having chicken satay or Beijing chicken,” Merchant said.

Merchant stressed that Phillipe Chow does not offer a contemporary style of cooking, but instead something in keeping with the Beijing culinary heritage.

Merchant said that they were invited by Riyadh Season to open the restaurant during the festivities in Al-Atheriya Heritage Village. The zone offers a selection of international restaurants, cafes and stores selling local crafts for the Riyadh Season.

“The purpose for our visit was because we were invited by the Riyadh Season to take part in these festivities, and we are very happy and delighted to be part of these festivities,” he said.

The CEO decided to open in the Kingdom because he believed the region was suitable for business developments.

“We think this is a very prime market. We find the UAE and Saudi Arabia to be very receptive to business. Our trip here to the Kingdom has been enlightening,” he explained.

Philippe Chow is operated and owned by Merchants Hospitality, and the executive chef of the Beijing restaurant is Chow himself.

“Originally, I had customers from Saudi Arabia that went to New York to try the restaurant,” Chow told Arab News.

The executive chef shared that on the first day of the restaurant opening in Riyadh, there were over 200 reservations with a waiting list.

“I think Saudis will like Chinese food, specifically the Beijing style,” the executive chef said.

“Chinese food and Saudi food are very different. Chinese food uses the wok, more spices, and heat,” the chef explained.

Merchant believes that the locals who have not traveled to New York to try the restaurant will like its authentic taste.

“It is easy on your taste buds, and it has an addictive nature in how people enjoy the food. So, I think we will have a very good reception to the cuisine,” Merchant said.

Merchant and Chow both recommend trying the Chicken Satay or the Peking Duck, which is carved tableside.

“When I go out with my family, I’ll order duck, chicken satay, and I’ll order more single-item foods than big items. I say Beijing chicken and chicken satay are probably my all-time favorite,” the CEO told Arab News.

After Riyadh, Phillipe Chow is expected to expand his restaurants into other cities in the US, with Washington, D.C. first on the list.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has announced that wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines will be mandatory in all indoor and outdoor events and activities from 07:00 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30.  According to the Saudi Press Agency, an official source from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior said the decision was made by the country’s health authorities due to a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases and the occurrence of new mutations for the virus.  The source indicated that all procedures and safety measures are subject to continuous evaluation based on the local and global situation. People living in Saudi Arabia are being urged to follow the new protocols in order to avoid facing legal penalties for failing to adhere to the precautionary measures.

RIYADH: A team of doctors managed to extract a potentially dangerous bracelet from the stomach of a Saudi six-year-old child. A team of medical specialists at King Abdulaziz Hospital in Jeddah conducted a two-and-a-half hour operation to save the child, who was admitted to hospital a few days earlier after suffering severe pain in his stomach. X-ray scans of the child’s body showed a bracelet in his intestines, according to a report by Al Arabiya.  The child’s condition is stable and improving, the report added.

RIYADH: The Saudi Fund for Development on Tuesday inaugurated a road improvement project valued at $60 million in Sri Lanka, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The road project, which runs from Peradeniya, Badulla to Chenkaladi, aims to develop the infrastructure of the transport sector, reduce the death rates and injuries caused by traffic accidents, improve road safety and reduce traffic jams, and benefit more than 3 million people.

The road is a major link between the eastern and southern provinces and other regions in Sri Lanka, and is essential to the movement of a wide range of agricultural products.

During the opening ceremony, Johnston Fernando, Sri Lankan minister of highways, praised the Kingdom’s contributions through the SFD in supporting and developing infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka, adding these projects contribute to improving social and economic conditions.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and the fund’s CEO, Sultan Al-Murshed, laid the foundation stone for the Wayamba University development project, which the SFD funded with $28 million.

The second project aims to support teaching and learning opportunities for more than 5,000 students annually, and raise the quality of education to enhance the economic and social capacity for sustainable growth.

Al-Murshed said the fund works to achieve quality education and community well-being, and supports social activities.

The fund is looking forward to developing education through this project and enabling the university to provide support to the community in the Kuliyapitiya and Makandura regions, he added.

Rajapaksa held talks with Al-Murshed and his delegation on the sidelines of their visit to the South Asian island nation, to discuss the development projects financed by the fund and follow up on the progress of their implementation.

The prime minister also praised the Kingdom’s contributions to achieve sustainable development goals.

The delegation toured an epilepsy hospital project, which opened in 2017, and is one of the fund’s projects in Sri Lanka’s health sector valued at $32 million.

The SFD has provided 15 development loans to help finance and implement 13 projects in the water, energy, health, roads and education sectors, with a total of $425 million.

RIYADH: Inspired by the words of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi artist Sarah Al-Zaidi spent five months creating a portrait of him using gemstones and other minerals she collected from Jabal Tuwaiq, a mountain in the north of the Kingdom.

‘Himmat Al-Jabal,’ which translates as ‘Mettle of the Mountain,’ was inspired by a comment by the crown prince, who said that ‘the Saudi people’s mettle is like Jabal Tuwaiq.’

Jabal Tuwaiq is a long, steep slope cutting through the Najd plateau of central Arabia, stretching for about 800 kilometers from Qassim region northwest of Riyadh to the northern edge of Rub' al Khali ( Empty Quarter desert) in the south.

Valleys along the sides of Jabal Tuwaiq had been home to communities during centuries past, and the escarpment is now promoted as a destination for hikers and outdoor lovers.

Al-Zaidi created her innovative, expressive technique after developing a passion for art at an early age.

She collects stones such as obsidian, amber and quartz and uses them, along with other items she collects, such as wood and seashells, to create impressive, mosaic-like works.

RIYADH: The winners of the King Faisal Prize for 2021 received their awards on Tuesday at a glittering ceremony in Riyadh.

The awards, the most prestigious in the Muslim world, recognize outstanding achievement in service to Islam, Islamic studies, Arabic language and literature, medicine, and science.

The award for services to Islam was received by the Kuwaiti entrepreneur Mohamed Al-Sharikh, founder of the Sakhr software company, which created the first Arabic language operating system for computers.

Sharikh was honored for his work in developing the first software for English translations of the Qur’an and Hadith. “Winning this award represents an ambition for many of us. Thank you to those who nominated me, and thank you to the award’s management and staff,” he said. The other winners were Moroccan professor Mohamed Mechbal (Arabic language and literature); Stephen Mark Strittmatter, an American neurologist at Yale School of Medicine, and British professor Robin Franklin of the Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (co-winners in medicine); and Prof. Stuart Parkin from the UK, an experimental physicist at Stanford University in California (science). The Islamic studies prize was not awarded this year. Mechbel was recognized for work that lays the foundations for the creation of modern Arab rhetoric. Strittmatter and Franklin were rewarded for their pioneering work in the field of regenerative medicine in neurological conditions. Parkin was honored for innovative research that has resulted in a 1,000-fold increase in the storage capacity of magnetic disk drives.

“It’s a great honor, and an honor for all scientists around the world,” he said. “The King Faisal Prize means a lot more funding for crazy ideas, and they are the way forward for a better future.” Each winner received a $200,000 prize, a 24-carat gold medal, and a certificate in Arabic calligraphy signed by prize board chairman Prince Khalid Al-Faisal.