This weekly sponsored blog post is brought to you by Waldorf Astoria Beijing.

The Waldorf Astoria Beijing: Now Open.

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Every area of New York State has its local culinary specialties, but only some are world famous. Two favorite menu items owe their popularity to New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and both have a connection to the Thousand Islands, a beautiful group of islands in the St. Lawrence River.

Waldorf Salad was an instant success when it was created by the hotel’s maître d’hôtel, Oscar Tshcirky in 1896. The original version of the salad contained apples, celery and mayonnaise served on a bed of lettuce. Chopped walnuts later became an integral part of the dish.

Thousand Islands Dressing was born in Clayton. Legend has it that around the turn of the century, Sophia LaLonde, wife of a Thousand Islands fishing guide, shared her dressing recipe with a prominent stage actress named May Irwin, who dubbed it Thousand Island Dressing. Irwin gave the recipe to fellow Thousand Islands summer visitor George C. Boldt who was in the process of having a castle built. Boldt, the owner of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, instructed that it be included on the hotel’s menu where it was introduced.

Waldorf Astoria Beijing now gives the Waldorf Salad a Beijing-style by inheriting the original ingredients Apple Mikkado, Caramelized Walnuts, Celeriac Puree with combining authentic Traditional Beijing Duck Leg Confit beautifully displayed on Narumi tableware.

Brasserie 1893 continues the world famous legacy of the Waldorf Astoria by offering these sumptuous epicurial delights as part of its menu.

Please visit their website: beijing.waldorfastoria.com

Photo: Brasserie 1893, Waldorf Astoria Beijing