"What a great idea! Moroccan and Middle Eastern food, complete with a beautiful girl who wears a sexy costume and belly dances around the tables,"Katia said, eyes flashing. "The only problem is that I do not wish to show off so much skin because in China I keep putting a little bit of extra poids."

My lovely French colleague had again taken a sortie out into the world of food and come back, this time exclaiming over the new restaurant Sahara. The owners had warmly welcomed her party on a weekday night where they ate before going off to a special talk at the nearby Bookworm.

"Their food was fresh, I had the tabbouleh, some hummus exquisitely presented, and oh, the minced lamb kebabs. Oui, and also something very nice, slightly bland, an eggplant dish of some sort. The place was not crowded at all and I am hoping that it will become more popular,"she said, raising a questioning eyebrow. "You know the restaurant business is hard to crack; in many countries the attrition rate is 90 percent within a year or two. I don't know about Beijing but I have seen that many places come and go. Maybe with the Olympics…"

Indeed, I too ate at the Sahara and immediately saw that they had not stocked their brand new deli cases with anything at all; this made me feel a bit uneasy. But the staff greeted me heartily and led my friend John and me upstairs. We sat in opulently cushioned comfort listening to the exotic strains of Arabic music.

"I like this place," he'd remarked, "because it reminds me of all the trips I made with my wife to Morocco, to places where the sky and the sea and the sand meet. Now we're sitting in a peaceful haven away from the crowds in Beijing, eh?"

Indeed, my fifty something friend liked it even more when the belly dancer started up her routine on the dance floor below us. We'd finished our very nice grilled lamb entrees; he was nursing a beer and I was sipping excellent coffee. But John could no longer focus on any sort of conversation because the dancing girl, a petite and curvy Chinese nymphet, sidled up the stairs and started shaking her stuff next to our table on the second floor. She jingled and jangled all those little silver bells around her hips and other luscious body parts - and boy - she really knew how to keep everyone's attention. "It's a great art form," he'd mumbled in partial excuse after we'd exited.

"Oh la la: didn't you know that belly dancing is very popular in Beijing," Katia told me later. "The girls here take yoga and belly dancing and even Pilates, it really keeps them in shape. Mon Dieu! I need to get to the gym, more often. Chinese food is so delicious but it is also high in fat, I am over nourishing myself. This Sahara had very nice entrees, very healthy nourriture. Why don't we both sign up for a class? That way we'll get more attention from the men and our tummies will nice and flat."

"I'd rather watch girls the age of my daughter prancing about and just eat at this point in my life,"I responded. "But a beautiful young woman like yourself - what do you prefer more: the attentions of an eligible man or a good meal?"

"Both," Katia said, smiling her famous Colette smile. "The entrées first and the man for dessert. C'est bon, n'est pas?"

Tips:

Appetizers and salads from 30RMB up
Entrees from 55RMB up
Open from 11AM till "late" lunch buffet: 11-2 (48RMB)

Add: Jidianyuan Number 4 Sanlitun Nan Jie, Gong Ti Bei Lu, Chaoyang
(behind the Comfort Hotel and near The Bookworm)
Tel: 8610-6507 3521www.sahalarestaurant.com