bc magazine

HK Spirits & Pairing Festival 2017

Later this month on the rooftop of The Park Lane Hotel as well as a gorgeous view of Victoria Harbour you’ll be able to sample over 100 spirits and pair them with a range of cigars. The first HK Spirits & Pairing Festival offers whiskey and whisky as well as gin, rum and a range of cocktails.

Whisky with or without an ‘e’, countries with an ‘e’ in their name tend to use an e for their whiskey, is a generic term for a spirit distilled from a mash of fermented grains. There are a multitude of different whiskies including bourbon, rye, Tennessee, Scotch, Irish, Japanese, Canadian… distilled across the globe each very different from the other. And yet while wine tastings are ten-a-penny, there are few broad range spirits tastings. So if you fancy a dram or two…

HK Spirits & Pairing Festival 2017
Date: 12pm, 24 June, 2017
Venue: The Park Lane Hotel, Rooftop
Tickets: $680, $300

Megabites: Food & Restaurant News 8 June, 2017

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Carlo Riva

There’s a new steakhouse in Wanchai Carlo Riva. The 5,000+ square foot restaurant with an impressive looking open kitchen is spread over two floors at 1 Heard Street, with the upstairs offering several private rooms.

The menu features steak cuts from across the globe: US, Australian, New Zealand, Argentina, France and some fine US tomahawks. Also on the soft opening menu is a range of pasta and vegetarian dishes. And they’re baking their own bread, the brie chunks in black sesame seed flour is rather good! There’s a separate and extensive lunch menu, from $68 up, with unlimited chips.

Style wise, to quote one of the owners “It’s relaxed fine dining with good sized portions at reasonable prices” and we can’t argue with that. Currently there’s no corkage charge so BYOB and no service charge.

Carlo Riva: 1 Heard Street, Wanchai Tel: 3956 2388
Opening Hours: 12-3pm, 6-11pm www.facebook.com/CarloRivaHK/

Brydock Farm Anti-biotic Free Pork

There’s a burgeoning market among the affluent who want to buy and eat meat only from ‘ethically’ reared and ‘healthy’ animals. Looking to cater to that market in the UK and now available locally is Brydock Farms with their range of anti-biotic free pork. Television adverts want us to continue to think of farms as small family-run places. Those simply aren’t economic today, at Brydock’s Farm for example in Aberdeenshire they have 10,500 outdoor sows and produce 4,600 pigs a week.

What has also changed are the government regulations, these are now very strict in the UK and cover all aspects of food production including animal feed, transportation, welfare, they also track each individual animal from the farm through the slaughterhouse. You can read more about this at www.redtractor.org.uk which looks to ensure promote clearer labeling and ensure food originates from a trustworthy source. Not only are these regulations in-place to prevent disease, they also ensure that if a farm claims for example that it’s pigs are anti-biotic free they can be tracked and tested to confirm it’s true. Brydock Farms anti-biotic free pork can be found in the freezers of your local supermarkets.

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Organic Fusion Bar G.Eyre

Newly opened in Wanchai is Genie Chan’s ‘organic fusion bar’ G.Eyre. All the ingredients are claimed to be organically sourced, principally from Australia, but unlike many other recently opened ‘organic places’ it’s refreshingly very much not vegetarian.

Appertisers include stewed potatoes with black dates ($78), mussels w/cider ($108). Mains feature organic chicken, cod, salmon, prawns and ribs but sides dishes are extra. A range of light meals with quinoa and brown rice cater to the calorie counters among you including teriyaki tofu w/cucumbers (228 calories) and spicy American beef stew (325 calories). Coffees and flower teas range from $20-$42. There’s also various set lunches daily. A 10% service charge is added.

G.eyre: 69 Hennessy Road, Wanchai. Tel: 2818 6992.
Opening hours: 11:30am-10pm
www.g.eyreorganic.com.hk

Opened a new restaurant, running a promotion, launched a new food product. Send the information to [email protected]

Food Glorious Food @ Hofex 2017

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The biannual Hofex descended on Hong Kong last week and bc went for a look see, here’s some of what we found. There’s a lot of food at Hofex but the majority of the suppliers, from across the globe, are food service orientated. That’s the provision of the food we enjoy in restaurants, cafes and hotels, from the raw ingredients to machines to technology.

In many smaller places, restaurant groups, but also even in hotel buffets, much of what you eat is outsourced and prepared in a factory or communal kitchens and reheated or finished just before you consume it.

The technology and cooking techniques in the food production area have improved massively in recent years – a simple local example would be the improved quality and options in the bread basket, where very few restaurants have the space/time to make their own – to the extent that with most dishes you shouldn’t be aware of the difference.

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Pizza is now a Hong Kong diet staple, with a plethora of different choices from low end to high end. As the big ‘specialist chains have expanded though the quality of many has noticeably dropped. You can even find frozen Tesco’s pizza in some supermarkets. At Hofex though Cypriot importer and online store www.greekdeli.com.hk was showcasing a frozen Greek pizza from Elliniki Nostimia. It’s tasty, full of flavour, loaded with cheese and available with a range of toppings and an estimated retail price of between $40-60. It should be available soon from outlets around town and also from their online store. And while you’re shopping there try out the various flavours of Greek yoghurts.

One of the big local food factories is Sims and among the many tasty things they were showcasing was a delicious chocolate dome comprising a hard chocolate outer shell, filled with soft moist chocolate sponge and then a liquid chocolate center. A difficult combination to execute successfully on a small scale let alone on a production line. Yet it was delicious. Not too sweet, the sponge moist, and so good we went back for a second later in the week.

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Brand extensions have been all the range among marketeers for a long time with many hoping to replicate, even on a small scale the phenomenal succe$$ of Hello Kitty. You’ll soon find on your supermarket shelves Jack Daniels BBQ sauces and Guinness Beer Brats and meatballs (Park n Shop, Jusco).

From Lativa comes Nelleulla chocolate flavoured with freeze dried fruit and lovely truffles coated with gold and filled with a range of flavours. The Taiwanese know how gold can help sell, and a company created a hand made nougat with a gold topping. Also from Taiwan for coffee lovers is a range of indigenous coffee with unusual flavours including sea salt coffee.

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Melbourne cheese makers That’s Amore Cheese showcased several cheeses including Drunken Buffalo (a matured Buffalo milk cheese encased in Nebbiolo grape skins and lees and matured for six months) and Secrets of the Forest (a handcrafted Buffalo milk cheese mixed with winter truffles and matured in wild hay for six months) both are wonderful cheeses with unique flavours and we hope to see both available locally soon.

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Not all of these are available now, but many should be in a retail or online store near you in the next few months.

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Megabites Food News – 15 May, 2017

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Sainsbury’s in Hong Kong

A third British supermarket chain has launched it’s eponymous product ranges locally as Sainsbury’s make it’s first international foray. Waitrose has been available in Great Food Hall/Park n Shop for a couple of years and Tesco‘s own brand products have been available in Vango and Vanguard stores over six months.

Over 200 products from four different Sainsbury’s ranges – ‘by Sainsbury’s’, ‘SO Organic’, ‘Taste the Difference’ and it’s ‘freefrom’ wheat, gluten, milk, egg, nut – will be available primarily at Market Place by Jasons but also in some Wellcome and ThreeSixty stores. If the products prove popular expect the choice of items available to increase.

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Basilico $68 Set Lunch

Weekday Set Lunch prices have climbed and climbed in recent years and what used to be a value proposition of a reasonable tasting two course meal and non-alcoholic drink is now more often an expensive and not so generous portion with drink and service charge extra.

There are still some good set lunch offers to be found and the recently renovated kitchen at Basilico (9/F, 28 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay) is offering a two course lunch and drink for $68. The 7 main course options include wild mushroom risotto, stuffed pork loin, pizza and are accompanied with a soup or salad. For $108 the mains include black truffle linguini carbonara, New Zealand rib-eye steak and seafood linguini. A soft drink, tea or coffee is included with both and there’s no service charge.

Riesling Weeks Hong Kong

The fifth Riesling Weeks in Hong Kong, a month-long celebration of German wine led by its most famous grape Riesling, will take place in June. Over 100 outlets will participate this year. Riesling Weeks will start with a tasting event at the Oasis Room, Renaissance Harbour View Hotel Hong Kong on the 2 June hosted by German Wine Princess 2016 Christina Schneider. According to the press release there will be over 100 German wines to taste. Tickets are $250 (wine only) and $450 (German food and wine).

Restaurant & Bar Hong Kong: 5-7 September, 2017

This year’s Restaurant and Bar Hong Kong will take place from the 5-7 September, 2017 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The hospitality trade show will feature over 300 companies showcasing a wide range of products including food and beverages, tableware, catering equipment, furniture, IT systems, seminars and chef masterclasses. The 2nd RBHK Spirit Awards will take place during the show.

Gourmet Asia 2018

A new high end food exhibition, from the organisers of Hofex, Gourmet Asia will make it’s debut from the 9-11 May, 2018 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Over 400 B2B companies are expected to attend.

Bing at 老come煎餅

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Big delicious bing, Chinese style pancakes, at 老come煎餅 in Tin Hau. There’s a range of savoury and sweet including sausage, egg and cheese ($20), Peking duck ($35) and a local flavour HK Cha Chan Tang ($20) – although sadly the purple bean butter is no longer included. Service is friendly and quick, so if you’re in the area check it out. They’re delicious.

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Megabites Food News – 3 May, 2017

It might be Le French GourMay this month, but there’s lots of good and not so good Italian flavoured news in this week’s megabites.

Sadly at IFC Isola is to relocate and lose it’s gorgeous terrace and view across the harbour. Rumour has it that even after demanding that the restaurant renovate their interior a couple of years ago landlord IFC have decided they can make more money by taking the large space and splitting it into smaller shops, so there will three new restaurants opening soon… More details on those as we get them.

Isola will close in it’s current location (Shop 3071-75, Level 3, ifc mall) on the 31 May and reopen almost directly downstairs on the second floor on the 12 June with a little more upmarket feel and basically the same menu with some new dishes to reflect the slight change in the feel due to the new location. The reservation telephone number and website address will remain unchanged.

A recent Italian food tasting at Isola saw several local vendors showcasing their Italian sourced products. Among those offering sample tastes were Abrate whose imported Tratuf Langhe truffle and pesto crisps are big thick and delicious. There’s a technique to cooking pasta well and it exposes the taste and texture difference between the cheaper brands and the more artisan pasta. Budget is always a factor when shopping, but when you want to impress then choose a quality pasta or all your effort in creating a mind bending sauce will be for naught. As well as pastas Abrate’s web shop also features a good selection of truffle, mushrooms, spices, dried fruits, desserts and other Italian delights.

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Vigne Vecchie produce a wide range of Italian products including pates, sauces, pickled vegetable, oils, and a bc favourite delicious cherry tomatoes stuffed with tuna. Many are available locally through an online store and regular pop-up events give them an email to find out about their upcoming events [email protected]

Pizza Express has launched a new menu for summer with many of the new dishes featuring seafood and seasonal fruits. We’ve yet to taste the new offerings but some of the more interesting sounding are: Crab Flatbread; Hawaiian ‘PizzaExpress – which features pineapple chutney and parma ham instead of the more traditional pineapple chunks and the new Lava pizza which has burrata mozzarella and basil torn over a baked pizza topped with olives and cherry tomatoes. All the new dishes are available at all 19 Pizza Express outlets across Hong Kong.

To celebrate the grand opening of their Citywalk store Emack & Bolio will be giving away 500 free scoops/cones on the 13 May from 2pm. The new store is located at Shop UG19, Citywalk, 1 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Mun

Cook Off @ Miramar Pizza Express – 23 March, 2017

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Pizza Express staged the first of it’s Cook Off Challenges at it’s Mirimar branch on the 23 March when Sushi Kuu‘s Mukogawa Satoru took on PE’s Dan Segall. The resulting pizza’s Yamaimo & Chicken’ and ‘Yuzukosho and Clam’ respectively were sampled and voted on by an appreciative audience and will be available for a limited time.
Click on any photo for the full gallery.

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Frites Tasty Lunchtime Salad Buffet

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There’s a massive range of lunch options in Causeway Bay, new to that choice this month is Frites all you can eat salad buffet for $98. There’s a choice of 15 different salads, with a little something for everyone’s taste from the traditional coleslaw, Caesar and Greek salads right the way through to a modern Super Protein Salad. There’s beetroot, chick peas and pumpkin, tuna quinoise, grilled sweetcorn and for those who need a bit of starch with their salad there’s roasted potato wedges.

For those looking for something a bit more substantial than just salads there’s a choice of the main dish add-ons: Sole Meuniere with brown butter caper sauce and steamed vegetables (add $58), Chicken Piccata with butter, olive oil, lemon, wine and capers served with steam vegetables (add $78) and a USDA 1855 8oz Steak and Frites (add $98).

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The portion sizes for the main supplements are full meals in themselves and the salads were fresh, tasty and regularly refilled to ensure nothing ran out. A sticky date pudding dessert and coffee or tea are an additional $20 each.

Frites healthy and varied salad buffet is only available in the Causeway Bay outlet, Monday to Friday 12-3pm and if you finish before 12:45pm you qualify for the 20% early bird lunch discount. What’s also nice is that for those who need to know the salad buffet menu lists the allergies and intolerances for each salad.

Frites Causeway Bay: Shop 1, G/F, Park Haven, 38 Haven Street, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2142 5233 www.frites.hk

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