Those Koi Palace folks sure are good at keeping secrets: unbeknownst to pretty much everyone, they've opened a San Francisco spinoff, Dragon Beaux, in the Richmond, which is making its debut today. Inside Scoop got the jump on the under-wraps project, which comes from Koi Palace's Willy Ng and his family, and will serve morning dim sum and evening hot pot and shabu-shabu. Dumplings and other traditional dim sum items will come direct from Koi Palace's central commissary, while some new creations will be made in-house, like squid-ink dumplings and fried "lantern beef." At night, hot pot will be offered with a choice of five broths and meat-and-vegetable sets running between $25-50 per diner, as well as some luxe upgrades like A5 Japanese Wagyu. The look of Dragon Beaux is also definitely intended to be a step up, with lots of dark wood, flower tapestries, and carved tables with hidden hot pots in the center.

For those unfamiliar with the Koi Palace mothership in Daly City, it's generally considered to be one of the best dim-sum spots in the entire Bay Area, despite some recent cleanliness concerns. Dragon Beaux is apparently the first in a big year of expansions for the Ng family: they're also looking to open a Koi Palace sequel in Milpitas, arriving in July. In the meantime, nearby Ton Kiang and Hong Kong Lounge definitely have some new competition for the weekend dim-sum crowd. Dim sum hours for Dragon Beaux are Monday-Friday, 11 am-3 pm and Saturday-Sunday, 10 am-4 pm; it's open for dinner Sunday-Thursday, 5:30-10 pm, and Friday-Saturday, 5:30-11:30 pm.

Oh yeah, and it's already drawing lines: