New Mexican restaurant, Caramba!, is turning up the heat. The Wall of Flame, with 65-plus types of hot sauces, is as much an attraction at the Elgin Street venue as its true-blue Mexican menu. Urban restaurant legend already has it that would-be hellraisers could not take the heat and landed up in hospital with stomach burn.
Diners are welcome to wander over and choose their own sauces, which will have swelled closer to 100 bottles and jars by the time owner Clayton Parker finished stocking his shelves. He is in the United States yet again sourcing even more sauces for his wall.
Hong Kong's biggest collection of hot stuff is made up of bottles with names like The Mad Dog Inferno Hot Sauce, which carries a warning to use at your own risk. The wall also includes a 'Bad Girls' range, which carries labels like The Sultan's Main Squeeze, Bad Girls in Heat, Kitten's Big Banana, Fifi's Nasty Little Secret, and an Extra Hot Amour Sauce. Less salacious have names like Spontaneous Combustion and the Hot Sauce from Hell.
In case that is not enough, Caramba! is concocting its own house brand of chilli sauce. Reservations on 2530-9963.
High-flying wines Obviously not content to deliver people to far-flung destinations, Cathay Pacific is entering the home-delivery service in Hong Kong with a range of red wines. Using its not inconsiderable purchasing power, all bottles are bought directly from brokers or dealers in various wine-producing countries.
The home-delivery selections until the end of this month are Chateau Gruaud-Larose 1990, Chateau Lagrange 1993 and Chateau Carruades de Lafite 1994. Wines from California, Australia, South Africa and Chile are being considered.