https://www.scmp.com/rss/985/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com My earliest memories are of Singapore. My father was posted there with the army when I was three. I remember the scent of frangipani, the heat and humidity, our amah’s cooking, and visiting the kampong where she lived. It’s a medley of memories. I’d love to go back, but I’ve not had the opportunity. Later we lived in Cyprus, before the island was divided, which was idyllic. From there I was sent as a boarder to Elmhurst Ballet School (in Britain), where by chance I started acting in films. Walt... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3152327/call-midwife-star-jenny-agutter-being-railway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3152327/call-midwife-star-jenny-agutter-being-railway?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Oct 2021 08:15:17 +0000 Back in the 1960s comedian and actor Bob Newhart performed a famous stand-up monologue called the Bus Drivers’ School. His premise was that American bus drivers must be specially taught to make life hell for their passengers, because they did it in ways which couldn’t simply be instinctive. Skills on the school’s curriculum included slamming doors in the faces of old ladies and mispronouncing street names. Listening to this again recently, it occurred to me that there is perhaps a similar... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3143923/driving-me-mad-where-did-hong-kong-motorists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3143923/driving-me-mad-where-did-hong-kong-motorists?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Aug 2021 01:45:19 +0000 Later this week a 16-year-old Hong Kong student will co-host an online discussion as part of the annual United Nations meeting on the status of women. The topic is gender inequality in post-apartheid South Africa – not something one would assume a Hong Kong teenager from a privileged background is likely to be familiar with. But, as Erita Lee Acham Chen explains, dance, the coronavirus pandemic, and serendipity put her in touch with charities in South Africa that are empowering disadvantaged... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3126734/dance-coronavirus-and-timing-teenage-hong-kong-ballerina?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3126734/dance-coronavirus-and-timing-teenage-hong-kong-ballerina?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Mar 2021 04:45:11 +0000 In August last year, shortly before Hong Kong live music bar The Wanch closed its doors, Davie Colquhoun wrote an ode to the venue. The owners stuck it on the wall. It read: Strange days indeed / Strange times at hand / That forced the music to disband / No chance for reason or to reason why / And no chance to play goodbye. Those lines now have an additional poignancy. Davie Colquhoun, who was The Wanch’s most regular performer and the host of its acoustic jam sessions, died suddenly on New... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3116441/musicians-pay-tribute-hong-kongs-eric-clapton-guitarist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3116441/musicians-pay-tribute-hong-kongs-eric-clapton-guitarist?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jan 2021 06:45:07 +0000 [Sponsored article] Family is important in Bourgogne, one of the greatest wine regions in the east-central part of France – an area dotted with vineyards and numerous stunning Renaissance and medieval chateaus, centred around Dijon, a city famous for its mustard. Here family-owned businesses, called domaines, dominate production of the region’s renowned red and white wines. Although Bourgogne is widely known internationally by its English name, Burgundy, today the region is reasserting its... https://www.scmp.com/presented/lifestyle/food-drink/topics/bivb/article/3111033/why-burgundy-one-best-known-names-wine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/lifestyle/food-drink/topics/bivb/article/3111033/why-burgundy-one-best-known-names-wine?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Dec 2020 06:29:19 +0000 For me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of visiting a different place, usually, is sampling the local booze. Drink is a subject I write on, so the main purpose of much of my travel has been to learn about the wines, spirits and occasion­ally beers of a particular destination. I do travel for other reasons, of course, but either way local liquor generally helps to lubricate the trip. I didn’t go to Cuba specifically for the rum, but soon found that nothing sets you up for a day wandering around... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3103595/chinas-baijiu-scottish-whisky-destinations-signature?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3103595/chinas-baijiu-scottish-whisky-destinations-signature?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Oct 2020 18:30:14 +0000 Thanks to Covid-19 curfews on eating out, lately I’ve been cooking at home more than I’m used to. I’ve also reached the time of life at which you forget the odd thing in the kitchen – recently, for instance, how long it takes to cook a particular variety of pasta. There I was, water boiling nicely, poring over the packet instructions in search of the specified cooking time. And there it wasn’t. Or rather was – right under the obligatory and irremovable HKSAR stick-on nutrition label. The... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3100875/hong-kong-nutrition-labels-often-obscure-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3100875/hong-kong-nutrition-labels-often-obscure-more?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Sep 2020 00:45:13 +0000 Feral cattle ambling through weekend traffic jams are a common sight in Sai Kung, a peninsula in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Nobody milks the cows, of course, but cheese is nevertheless one of the town’s attractions. Turophiles (also known as cheese fanciers) make the trek there to visit three specialised outlets that import high quality cheeses. You won’t find them in the supermarkets, and they are far cheaper than comparable quality cheeses found in food halls in the city’s business... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3086278/3-hong-kong-cheese-shops-selling-gouda-brie-and-other-fine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3086278/3-hong-kong-cheese-shops-selling-gouda-brie-and-other-fine?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 May 2020 04:15:12 +0000 One of the major trends in mixology in recent years has been the use of fresh herbs. Bartenders like them for both their visual and their aromatic appeal, and increasingly are treating them not so much as garnishes but as part of the architecture of drinks. “If you think about the signature classic cocktails, herbs and leaves don’t feature, but now they are being used extensively, and they work particularly well with gin,” says Rohit Gurung, bar manager of Aqua Spirit, in Tsim Sha Tsui, and The... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3051171/home-grown-asian-herbs-add-fresh-twist-gin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3051171/home-grown-asian-herbs-add-fresh-twist-gin?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Feb 2020 09:30:13 +0000 Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) earned his place in history as a prominent revolutionary figure in Italy and South America during the mid-19th century. In particular, he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the Risorgimento, a movement that led to the unification of Italy. He is also notable for the extraordinary diversity of places and things that admirers have chosen to name after him. These include a British biscuit, a Californian fish, a Mexican pop group, a station on the Paris... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3034544/hong-kong-bartenders-milano-cocktail-tribute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3034544/hong-kong-bartenders-milano-cocktail-tribute?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Oct 2019 10:45:06 +0000 Of the classic drinks revived by the “ginaissance”, the most prominent have been the dry martini, the G&T and the negroni. The Clover Club has come a little late to the party, but is gaining traction. Although less well known, this cocktail, too, has passionate aficionados, among them John Nugent. Beverage director of La Rambla by Catalunya, in Central, Nugent believes the combination of accessibility and sophistication, with both fresh fruit flavour and a serious gin kick, make the Clover Club... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3031220/clover-club-accessible-sophisticated-cocktail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3031220/clover-club-accessible-sophisticated-cocktail?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Oct 2019 12:00:13 +0000 Monday will mark the beginning of a new era for the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) – its first concert under new chief conductor Vahan Mardirossian and the first in its 20th anniversary season. Previously a guest conductor with the orchestra in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Mardirossian will conduct a programme featuring Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin with soloist Akiko Suwanai, Sibelius’ Andante Festivo, and Poulenc’s Sinfonietta. “He’s the Leonard Bernstein of Armenia,” says CCOHK... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3030604/something-new-city-chamber-orchestra-hong-kongs-first-20?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3030604/something-new-city-chamber-orchestra-hong-kongs-first-20?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Sep 2019 07:00:14 +0000 “Fat-washing” as a trend in cocktails arguably began in 2007, with the creation of the Benton’s Old Fashioned, by Don Lee, at New York’s PDT speakeasy. Now a fixture on PDT menus in New York and Hong Kong, at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, the Benton’s Old Fashioned is made with bourbon whiskey infused with bacon fat. It is a modern classic, and was considered revolutionary when introduced. It has influenced count­less imitations – some more successful than others. However, the idea that fat... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3024886/fat-washed-cocktails-are-taking-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3024886/fat-washed-cocktails-are-taking-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2019 03:30:07 +0000 Many cocktails created in the 19th century, such as the old fashioned and the manhattan, became well known inter­nation­ally, but the caipirinha, Brazil’s national drink, arrived late to the party. The base spirit for this South American favourite is cachaça, which is distilled from fermented sugar-cane juice and is sometimes confused with rum. The growth of Brazil’s economy, in particular its tourism sector, from the 1990s onwards, focused global attention on Brazilian culture, including the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3016189/move-over-manhattan-brazils-caipirinha-hottest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3016189/move-over-manhattan-brazils-caipirinha-hottest?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Jun 2019 11:00:07 +0000 Climate change, veganism and fast fashion are among the topical issues tackled in a new “eco-theatre” play, staged by the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF). If Not Me, Who?, which premieres on Friday at ArtisTree, also reunites HKYAF founder Lindsey McAlister and composer Violaine Corradi, who were behind the acclaimed original and local musical Melodia in 2017. McAlister says she was inspired to write the 50-minute piece partly by the work of her son, glaciologist and climate scientist... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3013952/climate-change-veganism-fast-fashion-tackled-bite-size?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3013952/climate-change-veganism-fast-fashion-tackled-bite-size?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Jun 2019 11:00:10 +0000 Consumption of cocktails can be intended to signal sophistication. The dry martini, for example, suggests classic elegance – James Bond would wear a tuxedo to sip one. The boilermaker, not so much. Its connota­tions are more blue collar than white tie. But, given that the term can apply to an order for a shot of whiskey with a beer chaser, or simply to the act of pouring the spirit into the beer, does it even qualify as a cocktail? It’s a surprise therefore to find that it is one of the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3007824/hong-kong-highball-bar-recalls-prohibition-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3007824/hong-kong-highball-bar-recalls-prohibition-era?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Apr 2019 07:30:03 +0000 In cocktail lore there are certain iconic figures who are famous primarily for doing something other than bartend­ing. None looms larger than the American journalist and novelist Ernest Hemingway. “Papa”, as he was nicknamed, earned this special status by both championing his favourite tipples in print and popularising them in the bars he frequented during his extensive travels. He was not much of an originator of drinks – although he probably did play a role in the creation of at least one... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3001481/hong-kong-bar-old-man-channels-spirit-hemingway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3001481/hong-kong-bar-old-man-channels-spirit-hemingway?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:00:06 +0000 For many years it was generally accepted wisdom that grapes for making wine could only be cultivated between 30 and 50 degrees of latitude, in either the northern or southern hemisphere. Over the past three decades or so, however, vignerons from Scandinavia to Southeast Asia have been growing grapes and making wines in other latitudes in defiance of the old convention – and some of them are surprisingly good. Thailand was among the pioneers of what are now called “New Latitude” wines. Other... https://www.scmp.com/country-reports/country-reports/topics/thailand-business-report-december-2018/article/2176296/degree?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/country-reports/country-reports/topics/thailand-business-report-december-2018/article/2176296/degree?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Dec 2018 10:01:39 +0000 Scotch and American whiskies were both in short supply in the United States during the second world war, but rum was plentiful. Suppliers accordingly took to twisting the arms of bar managers, such as George Oechsner Jnr, of Pat O’Brien’s Bar, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, to take more of their surplus bottles. The deal was that the bars could buy a few cases of premium liquor, but only if they also bought a much larger quantity of basic Caribbean rum – for which there was little... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2175777/hurricane-cocktail-how-cheap-new-orleans-tipple?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2175777/hurricane-cocktail-how-cheap-new-orleans-tipple?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Dec 2018 08:30:30 +0000 There are several theories as to how the martini, a cocktail made with gin and vermouth, acquired its name. One is that it derives from Martini, a brand of Italian vermouth, while another is that, at some point, a connection was made between the alcoholic kick of the drink and the powerful recoil of a Martini-Henry rifle. Yet another theory is that the name is a corruption of martinez, a cocktail that’s more like a manhattan and much sweeter than a contemporary dry martini. The 1887 edition of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2168034/not-martini-or-manhattan-martinez-cocktail-you?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2168034/not-martini-or-manhattan-martinez-cocktail-you?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Oct 2018 08:31:15 +0000 If you ask almost anybody outside Mexico what that country’s most popular cocktail is, they will almost certainly nominate the margarita. They will be wrong, however. For most Mexicans, the preferred agave-spirit-based drink is a concoction called La Paloma. “It’s much more popular in Mexico, but outside the country – in the United States or Hong Kong, for example – general consumers are not very aware of it,” says Jay Khan, co-founder and beverage director of Mexican-inspired craft cocktail bar... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2159144/mexicos-favourite-cocktail-la-paloma-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2159144/mexicos-favourite-cocktail-la-paloma-not?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Aug 2018 06:31:23 +0000 On June 22 next year it will be half a century since Judy Garland died in London, aged 47, of a prescription drug overdose. But she nearly checked out the same way five years earlier in Hong Kong. This dramatic episode in Garland’s life inspired actor and singer Michael Sharmon to write a play, Lions, Typhoons and Judy, Oh My!, which runs from June 27 to 30 at the Hong Kong Fringe Club Underground Theatre, starring Candice Moore as Garland. Rufus Wainwright celebrates Judy Garland The show is... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2151932/judy-garland-trip-hong-kong-when-she-went-coma-spark-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2151932/judy-garland-trip-hong-kong-when-she-went-coma-spark-new?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Jun 2018 11:45:00 +0000 “I think you miss out on a lot of opportunities if you have a very fixed idea of where you are going to be in a certain period of time,” says Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (YAF) founder Lindsey McAlister. “The wonderful thing about YAF is that we have been able to sort of meander into things that seem interesting to explore, and find out if they’ll work.” Next Thursday at The Peninsula hotel, YAF (formerly known as the Hong Kong Youth Arts Festival) will celebrate 25 years of “meandering”... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2146720/hong-kong-youth-arts-foundation-celebrates-25-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2146720/hong-kong-youth-arts-foundation-celebrates-25-years?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 May 2018 02:47:04 +0000 Many of the world’s great bars have a signature drink. The problem, as Jim Meehan, co-founder of the highly successful New York speakeasy PDT points out, is that it is not the bar proprietor’s decision which it is. “The guests decide what your signature drinks are, not you. “We build our menus round a core of popular recipes that the guests love, and we try to create a bunch of interesting drinks to supplement them.” Not surprisingly, when PDT opened its first overseas branch this January – in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2145705/iconic-new-york-bar-gives-its-signature-drinks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2145705/iconic-new-york-bar-gives-its-signature-drinks?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 May 2018 11:00:45 +0000 Jukebox musicals built around songs from the rock ’n’ roll era are now ubiquitous in London’s West End and on Broadway. The most successful shows at the box office have been based on hits by hugely popular artists, usually tenuously linked to a preposterous plot. Calls for real name system for showgoers in Hong Kong so scalpers can’t profit from exorbitant ticket resales Smokey Joe’s Cafe, first staged in 1994, is an anomaly within the genre. It has no plot, no dialogue, and no named characters.... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2141571/hong-kong-rock-n-roll-jukebox-musical-will-keep-fans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2141571/hong-kong-rock-n-roll-jukebox-musical-will-keep-fans?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Apr 2018 10:19:04 +0000 How long has this been going on? I was born (as Clive Powell) in Lancashire, in northern England, in 1943. When I left school at the age of 15, in the summer of 1958, I went straight to work in a cotton mill as an apprentice weaver. We had a coal mine at the back of our house and, when we were kids, we’d hear the siren, run to the pit head and see them bringing up the injured miners, covering them in red blankets and putting them in the ambulances. I thought, “I don’t want to go down there,” so... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2139440/when-roger-moore-stole-my-thunder-jazz-singer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2139440/when-roger-moore-stole-my-thunder-jazz-singer?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Mar 2018 22:18:22 +0000 Wan Chai is known as a late-night party location. It used to be mainly a red light district, but has long since diversified, and most of the old girlie bars have been replaced by conventional bars and restaurants. New areas such as Ship Street are full of funky places to eat and drink. Here are five bars we recently visited: Loyal Dining Bar Loyal Bar is part of Tonnochy Road’s The Tonno entertainment complex, which also includes a nightclub and karaoke rooms along with the Loyal Dining... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2137456/five-wan-chai-bars-great-thai-chinese-local-and-japanese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2137456/five-wan-chai-bars-great-thai-chinese-local-and-japanese?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Mar 2018 04:32:13 +0000 Still only 28, jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant has already won Grammy Awards for best jazz vocal album for both of her last two CDs and is regularly compared to the greats who inspired her, including Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith. Salvant grew up in Miami in a music-loving household and began studying the piano at age five. A move to France in 2007 to study law and classical vocal music led her indirectly to jazz. Her debut album, Cécile,... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2138058/grammy-award-winning-jazz-singer-ahead-hong-kong-concerts-interview?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2138058/grammy-award-winning-jazz-singer-ahead-hong-kong-concerts-interview?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 11:46:31 +0000 Closer is an award-winning play by British playwright Patrick Marber. It was first performed at the Royal National Theatre in London in 1997, but is probably best known for Mike Nichols’ 2004 film adaptation starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen. Although Marber adapted his own play for the screen, Nichols’ film ends differently. For the version to be staged this week by Sweet and Sour Productions at Hong Kong Repertory Theatre’s Black Box venue in Sheung Wan, director... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2136530/hong-kong-production-closer-wont-have-films-ending-actors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2136530/hong-kong-production-closer-wont-have-films-ending-actors?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Mar 2018 10:15:00 +0000 The vibe: Dockyard is a food court in the Kerry Hotel, but you could just drop in for a drink at The Bar without eating. The food outlets are all set up to respond to orders via a mobile communications app – otherwise they have to be placed at a cashier counter – but you can pay for your drinks the old-fashioned way and either take them to a table or occupy a bar stool and consume them on the spot. Wherever you are, the food vendors will deliver. Loosely speaking this is a sports bar, with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2132509/bar-dockyard-review-best-food-court-bar-hong-kong-hung-hom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2132509/bar-dockyard-review-best-food-court-bar-hong-kong-hung-hom?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Feb 2018 09:49:00 +0000 The vibe: classic pool hall, with a few modern twists in the form of video screens and beer pong tables. If you have fantasies of being Paul Newman in The Hustler or The Color of Money, this is certainly the best place in Causeway Bay to play them out. It was quiet in the early evening when I dropped in, but it is probably schooling with pool sharks later on. I was told by a friendly patron that a tournament was scheduled, and offered a preliminary game. Staff are friendly and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2128489/bar-review-breeze-causeway-bay-be-paul-newman-pool-hall-good?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2128489/bar-review-breeze-causeway-bay-be-paul-newman-pool-hall-good?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jan 2018 10:04:24 +0000 The vibe: Modern American restaurant/beer and tequila bar, notably spacious for this part of town. Decor is uncluttered, and a light, airy feeling evoking the stretch of California coastline from which Big Sur takes its name is clearly the aim. It’s designed for all-day dining, and starts serving breakfast at 8am. A long bar should allow plenty of session beer drinkers to stay close to the taps, but a large outdoor area – with exterior space heaters for this relatively chilly season – was more... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2127471/bar-review-big-sur-soho-california-vibe-and-satisfying-drinks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2127471/bar-review-big-sur-soho-california-vibe-and-satisfying-drinks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jan 2018 10:15:23 +0000 The vibe: The “est. 1958” in The Picture House’s logo refers to the building, not the bar, which opened only a couple of months ago in the premises formerly occupied by the second incarnation of Steamers. In 1958 it was a cinema, hence the name. The layout is similar to that of its predecessor, and there is also a fair amount of continuity in staff and clientele, but the place is now a good deal smarter, with a gastropub atmosphere and menu. The forecourt sitting out area is particularly... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2125855/bar-review-picture-house-sai-kung-steamers-successor-gastropub?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2125855/bar-review-picture-house-sai-kung-steamers-successor-gastropub?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Dec 2017 10:00:28 +0000 Kir and kir royale are well estab­lished aperitifs – particularly in France – for people who wish to add a touch of élan to ordinary wines. The recipe could hardly be simpler: just add a little crème de cassis blackcurrant liqueur to white wine or champagne. Crème de cassis was introduced in 1841, and mixing it with white wine quickly became popular in France. The inter­national profile of the drink, however, is a post-second world war phenomenon, and credited to the man after whom what was... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2122241/aperitifs-kir-and-kir-royale-bring-french-joie?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2122241/aperitifs-kir-and-kir-royale-bring-french-joie?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Dec 2017 11:30:30 +0000 For more than half a century the Hong Kong Players’ pantomime has been a cherished pre-Christmas tradition. With a new original script each year, addressed at one level to children and at another to the adults who bring them, it genuinely offers fun for all the family. “We try to make it as topical as we can – expect Trump to get a mention or two!” says co-author Teri Fitsell. “There’s plenty of silly humour and slapstick for the children, plus there’s satire for the adults. And, of course,... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2121431/look-out-trump-hong-kong-players-pantomime-back-trademark?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2121431/look-out-trump-hong-kong-players-pantomime-back-trademark?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Nov 2017 11:03:17 +0000 The vibe: You enter via a concealed doorway in the shape of a barrel on Wo On Lane. Press the red illuminated button on a skull attached to the barrel, and descend a dark staircase to a Mexican Day of the Dead-themed room, with a striking mural featuring a couple of cheerful looking skeletons. A neon sign proclaims “Tequila Makes My Clothes Come Off” – the name of one of the margaritas – and underlines the tequila and mescal bar theme. It’s a party room. Tequila drinking in Hong Kong moves... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2121064/bar-review-los-sotano-central-cool-taste-mexico-where-you-can?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2121064/bar-review-los-sotano-central-cool-taste-mexico-where-you-can?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Nov 2017 10:00:45 +0000 Back in the early 1990s saxophonist Eric Marienthal was a regular visitor to these shores, playing residencies at the old Jazz Club in Lan Kwai Fong. “I have such fond memories of coming to Hong Kong, and the Jazz Club was a huge thing for me,” the 59-year-old musician recalls over the phone from his home in Los Angeles. “We would usually do five or six nights in a row once a year, but it could be as many as nine. The Jazz Club just had a real feel to it. It was a great vibe.” At that time... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2118782/jazz-saxophonist-eric-marienthal-back-hong-kong-paid-and-free-gigs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2118782/jazz-saxophonist-eric-marienthal-back-hong-kong-paid-and-free-gigs?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Nov 2017 11:34:35 +0000 The vibe: a 1950s-early 1960s American diner, with a soundtrack to match. You can book the showpiece booth, constructed from the rear end of a 1957 Chevrolet, and watch silently screened Hollywood films such as Back to the Future and American Graffiti. Habitués of the original Central outlet in Arbuthnot Road will have a pretty fair idea of what to expect, although not everything from the Central menu or drinks list is available in the rural outpost. Service is friendly and obliging. The drinks:... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2118876/bar-review-diner-sai-kung-friendly-spot-burgers-shakes-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2118876/bar-review-diner-sai-kung-friendly-spot-burgers-shakes-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Nov 2017 11:31:00 +0000 It is now just over two years since Angelique Kidjo’s Hong Kong concert debut. At the end of that show, which had the entire audience on its feet, the “Queen of African music” expressed an intention to return. As good as her word, on November 3 she will be back at the Cultural Centre Concert Hall in Tsim Sha Tsui, and almost certainly getting the same response. When Kidjo performs, audiences getting up to dance is not so much an option as a requirement. Her previous appearance in Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2117718/angelique-kidjo-her-hong-kong-concert-tribute-three?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2117718/angelique-kidjo-her-hong-kong-concert-tribute-three?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Nov 2017 05:01:44 +0000 The vibe: A tribute to Ernest Hemingway who is now as famous for what he drank as for what he wrote. A mosaic portrait of the great man, artfully assembled from construction waste, looks down over a bar designed like a teppanyaki counter, with a metal chiller strip to keep your drinks cool running down the middle. Bar review: Loyal Bar in Wan Chai – well-made mix of old-style classics and signature fusion drinks Customers are welcome to wander behind the bar and look over the bartender’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2116783/bar-review-old-man-central-raise-glass-hemingway-thinking-mans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2116783/bar-review-old-man-central-raise-glass-hemingway-thinking-mans?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Oct 2017 04:31:07 +0000 The origin of the pisco sour is disputed: both Chile and Peru regard the cocktail as their national drink, though neither country attributes its invention to one of their own. The Chilean theory is that one Elliot Stubb first mixed the drink in 1872, in a bar in the port city of Iquique. The Englishman was a steward on a ship called Sunshine. Documentation for this theory is question­able, however. What’s more, Iquique at the time, though it had a sub­stantial Chilean population, was part of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2115912/south-american-cocktail-pisco-sour-gets-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2115912/south-american-cocktail-pisco-sour-gets-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Oct 2017 11:16:20 +0000 Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in print in 1887 and is still going strong 130 years later. In just the last decade, the Sherlock television series starring Benedict Cumberbatch, two films starring Robert Downey Jr, and the Elementary television series in which Jonny Lee Miller plays the detective have all been produced. There is a tongue-in-cheek element to most recent interpretations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s drug-addicted forensic genius. A play called Baskerville, however, takes... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2115746/why-sherlock-holmes-play-baskerville-hong-kongs-fringe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2115746/why-sherlock-holmes-play-baskerville-hong-kongs-fringe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Oct 2017 10:30:00 +0000 Until recently tequila was not a drink widely associated with connoisseurship. To most people it was party fuel, more likely to be downed as a shot than sipped as a serious drink. There has always been more to it than that – and to mezcal, the Mexican agave-based spirit of which tequila is a regional subcategory. Recent years have seen considerable growth in the international sales of premium tequila, and the emergence of mezcal from outside the Tequila regions as a drink for export with premium... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2113177/tequila-drinking-hong-kong-moves-upmarket-party-animals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2113177/tequila-drinking-hong-kong-moves-upmarket-party-animals?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Sep 2017 10:31:04 +0000 The Hong Kong International Jazz Festival 2017, which begins on September 30, is a milestone event for the organisers, the Hong Kong Jazz Association. “We’ve done it now for 10 years consecutively,” says founder and president Peter Lee with understandable pride. Given the chequered record of previous jazz festivals in Hong Kong, the achievement is considerable. Book review: how to navigate the labyrinth of jazz During the 1980s, tobacco company sponsorship brought major names to Hong Kong such... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2111867/hong-kong-international-jazz-festival-preview-and-how-event-has?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2111867/hong-kong-international-jazz-festival-preview-and-how-event-has?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Sep 2017 00:02:04 +0000 The vibe: Irish pub meets multiple screen sports bar. There are branches of McSorley’s in Discovery Bay and Macau, but this is a more compact operation, with an open front, and the slightly overloud background music-with-a-mechanical-beat aesthetic of a lot of SoHo watering holes. When I dropped in an Indian buffet was being served, and the aroma of the spices was pleasantly pervasive. Staff are friendly, the bar furniture is comfortable, and the management seems to be working to establish a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2110824/bar-review-mcsorleys-ale-house-soho-irish-sports-bar-focus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2110824/bar-review-mcsorleys-ale-house-soho-irish-sports-bar-focus?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Sep 2017 09:01:48 +0000 “People have been barrel ageing cocktails for some time, but nobody else was doing it in Hung Hom,” says Red Sugar bar manager Joe Villanueva. That part of Hong Kong is indeed an unlikely place in which to seek out exemplars of modern mixology, but Red Sugar, in the Kerry Hotel, is certainly pointing the way. Bar review: Red Sugar – a sweet experience with friendly staff and impressive drinks list A growing number of bars in more fashionable areas are trying to add another dimension to cocktails... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2109119/barrel-aged-cocktails-all-rage-hong-kong-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/2109119/barrel-aged-cocktails-all-rage-hong-kong-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Sep 2017 09:04:17 +0000 The vibe: A neighbourhood bar and pizza joint straight out of Woody Allen’s New York. The bar takes its name from the Alvy Singer character Allen plays in Annie Hall, while images from the director’s films hang on the walls and his early comedy albums play over the speakers in the toilets. The place goes a little off-theme with its rock background music – Allen’s beloved early jazz would have worked just as well – but the soundtrack doesn’t jar with the bar’s emphasis on craft beer and whiskey,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2106990/bar-review-alvys-kennedy-town-craft-beer-whiskey-and-pizza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2106990/bar-review-alvys-kennedy-town-craft-beer-whiskey-and-pizza?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Aug 2017 07:02:12 +0000 You couldn’t have an English summer without Pimm’s. Wimbledon, Ascot and the Henley Regatta are all unimaginable without it. “It’s a classic cocktail which is drunk throughout the year, but more so in summer,” says Robert Dach, restaurant manager of ToTT’s & Roof Terrace at The Excelsior. “On the other hand it’s more or less constant summer in Hong Kong.” Dach, who is German, is a knowledgeable Pimm’s aficionado who learned to love the drink during a long sojourn in England, although he first... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2103973/summer-glass-history-pimms-and-best-places-hong-kong-find-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2103973/summer-glass-history-pimms-and-best-places-hong-kong-find-it?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jul 2017 11:00:30 +0000 Singer, record producer and music educator Bobby Taylor, who died on Saturday aged 83, was best known for the role he played in getting Michael Jackson and his brothers their first record deal. But his career in the music business lasted almost 60 years, the last eight of them in Hong Kong. Canadian-born Taylor’s first big break was as the lead singer of Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, a soul band based in British Columbia that signed with Berry Gordy’s Detroit-based Motown Records in the late... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2103972/motown-veteran-bobby-taylor-hong-kong-resident-2009-dead-age-83?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2103972/motown-veteran-bobby-taylor-hong-kong-resident-2009-dead-age-83?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jul 2017 03:39:46 +0000 The vibe: a no-frills tap room owned by Taiwan’s Zhang Men Brewing Company. This is their first outlet outside Taiwan, and a dimly lit, businesslike room with a long bar welcomes beer lovers. Wood, brick and stainless steel dominate the decor, and a blue glow emanates from the chiller cabinets behind the bar. Simple and utilitarian in design, everything about the place proclaims a great seriousness about brews. Two staff members have qualified as a Certified Beer Server and Certified Cicerone... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2103381/bar-review-zhang-men-craft-brewery-tsim-sha-tsui-worthy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2103381/bar-review-zhang-men-craft-brewery-tsim-sha-tsui-worthy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jul 2017 09:01:16 +0000