Art and food share some similarities. Both are framed, presented and require an appreciative eye. Consequently, those who have dined at time-honored restaurants in Beijing, are figures of luminosity from the cultural circles who not only take pleasure in good food but also in socializing.

Those writers, opera artists, painters and calligraphers have often bequeathed their artworks in their wills to those who gave them nourishment.

This close relation between restaurants and their influential diners overtime has helped Huatian Group, which owns a number of prestigious catering brands in the capital city, assemble a collection of artworks. It is showing them at its new venue, Huatian Art Gallery, until Oct 20.

Feast of Extravagance celebrates the city’s gastronomic tradition and a cultural mood formed by the frequent visits by personas in the circles of arts and culture, which has constituted a unique part of Chinese cuisine.