Food is at the center of any special celebration, particularly those of global proportions, such as Chinese New Year. And this year, as in years past, everyone was just running about buying and trying out Chinese dishes believed to be auspicious for the occasion, in the hope of attracting good luck for the Year of the Wooden Snake.

Chinoys — and Pinoys who celebrate the special occasion with them — usually just buy auspicious food to share with family, friends and loved ones over lunch and dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve and on Chinese New Year itself. Or they book a lauriat in a Chinese restaurant and pick the menu to make sure everything they eat is considered lucky or auspicious without having to sweat it out in the kitchen. Or they make a reservation for group dining in a buffet restaurant that offers a wide selection of Chinese dishes, such as The Alley by Vikings at UP Town Center, which further expanded its Chinese food selections this Chinese New Year by offering a number of auspicious premium items on its buffet spread, including Roast Peking Duck, Pata Tim, and Char Siew.

Two premium items, Roast Peking Duck and Pata Tim, often available only on ala carte and not in a buffet, appeared on The Alley’s lunch and dinner buffet spread on Chinese New Year’s Eve and Chinese New Year. “It’s a special treat for diners of The Alley,” says corporate chef Michael Santos.

Roast Peking Duck is a premium Chinese delicacy that only a few Chinese restaurants specialize in. For an authentic taste, people usually have to go to Hong Kong to enjoy it. As a lauriat treat, hotels and restaurants often serve it two ways — its crispy skin and meat are shaved and served with scallions and Hoisin sauce on Mandarin pancakes; and its meat is minced and served on lettuce cups. A good Pata Tim, meanwhile, takes long and slow braising to make the meat fall-off-the-bone tender and incredibly flavorful and delicious.