Solidly chic
Underground urban chic has arrived in Hong Kong; at least that is the claim and aim of Stix, a new restaurant, bar and nightclub inspired by venues in New York, London and Miami.
Located at the corner of Gloucester Road and Great George Street in Causeway Bay, the 5,000-square-feet space contains cement tables inlaid with steel, oversized suede booths, glass floors with flowing water sculptures and a moving-image art wall. The restaurant offers food with an Asian slant.
Guests descend concrete stairs past boldly-painted open ducts and pipes into the basement area. Open only in the evenings, Stix is expected to attract a crowd wanting to see and be scene.
If you want to impress, a knowledge of fine wines always works but getting one can be an expensive business.
One place to develop it is the Oasis Winery at the New World Harbour View, which is offering aspiring wine-lovers the opportunity to try seven Spanish wines from four different growers for $150 (plus 10 per cent service charge), less than you pay for a bottle in many restaurants.
It regularly offers contrasting wines from one country with notes on the wines' histories and characteristics.
Tipplers and experts alike can imbibe in an elegant and intimate room and the best bit is you drink as much as you like (it is open 9pm to midnight nightly).
To dress and impress, the exquisite new Baccarat Room at The Regent hotel's Plume restaurant is the place to entertain.
The revamped Wine Room is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful venues in town; the room is located at the heart of the European fine-dining restaurant but a crackled glass wall guarantees privacy while allowing harbour views.
Diners drink from Baccarat Oenology glasses (designed to enhance the aroma and taste of wine), eat from Bernardaud showplates featuring the Hong Kong skyline around the edge, and use Christofle silverware. As the hotel's publicity says, Plume is not what it used to be.
The food pages are edited by Deborah Herd. Tel/fax 2791-2505.
