Cocktail king keeps it strictly old school

With a hip guest mixologist at the bar, JIA Hotel's Opia held a cocktail tasting on Wednesday for Gardener Dunn, who arrived from New York's Bungalow 8 club with his vodka-inspired drinks. 'There's a new wave in cocktails with more attention to presentation and molecular mixology, but I prefer the classics,' he explained. 'I just dabble in that stuff, but not too much,' he added, referring to trendy techniques using foam and strange textures. Just as interesting are the changes in Opia's kitchen. Teague Ezard has left and executive chef Dane Clouston (left) has now stamped his own personality on it. Whereas Ezard was known for 'modern Australian', Clouston is offering a new menu described as 'edgy Australian'.

'I'm going back to more European techniques, not so many Asian flavours,' he said. 'I've been working on it for four months. It's always going to be about fresh and immaculate ingredients, but now I have free rein to do whatever I want.' There's a HK$675 tasting menu if you want an overview.