Germans can make Champagne (if your name is Krug)

Food and wine writers and sub-editors will know very well that only the sparkling wine from Champagne, the region in France, can be called champagne - everything else is "sparkling wine", or Prosecco, Cava etc. Even amongst Europeans, who all have their own legislation and certification with regards to regional/cultural produce, the French are known to be particularly picky about their appellations. You'd think then, that they were pretty xenophobic, but truth is, like most people, they just like nice things, wherever they're from.

A Char Siu Wine - Eddie McDougall's Little Pig Rose

Eddie McDougall's Little Pig Rose 2010

Wines with non-European cuisines have always been a challenge. I've talked about natural pairings in the world's cuisines before, say, soy sauce and rice, clams and pork - these foods appear in close geographical proximity, and through time, people have found ways to make nature's bounty work with each other. China doesn't really have a history of wines made from grapes, and only with globalisation has Chinese food and grape wines started to come together. Nowadays - well in Hong Kong anyway - there's been a lot of talk about pairing wine with Asian food - I'd say it's still in its infancy, but hey, what do I know, I'm just a drinker.

Table for Two - Vegetarian Food Crawl in Central, Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun

Black bean veggie burger at Light Radiant Food

In the developed world, we hear about health problems that stem from overabundant diets - from obesity to gout, yet in the developing world, the health problems come from malnutrition, the direct opposite. Policymakers and activists around the world are trying to remedy this, and one social enterprise hitting both these birds with one stone is Table for Two.

Founded in 2008 in Japan, Table for Two has been helping feed children in poverty-stricken parts of Africa and China through donations made from restaurants in more developed nations. The consumption of healthy meals in restaurants, offered through partnerships between Table For Two and restaurants, raises money for the children's meals.

Healthy Summer Dining Experience map via Table for Two

Table for Two was brought to Hong Kong late last year, and the team here have devised a great "Healthy Summer Dining Experience" in August (starting August 1st). Buy the designated "Table For Two" meal (or drink) at their partner outlets, a portion of proceeds will go to charity, and by snapping a picture of your meal, there are prizes to be won too.


I was lucky enough to have been brought along on a little food crawl with the lovely ladies of Table For Two to get a sneak peek on some of the fab food and drink on offer. It was lovely to see so many great names on the list of participating restaurants (and bar). We didn't cover all of them on the crawl, so do check out the map (above) for the full list.

Shinya Shokudo - Food Manga Du Jour

Shinya Shokudo book 1, via official website

Sweeping the Asian food manga (comic) circles in the past year or so is Shinya Shokudo (深夜食堂 or Shinya Shokudou, and seemingly called Midnight Dining in English), a Japanese comic about a late night diner in the notorious nightlife district of Kabukicho, Tokyo. I'm not a comic obsessive, but since Les Gouttes de Dieu, this is the second food or wine-related comic I've been stuck into. In fact, it's the second comics series I've gotten stuck into in at least 5 years, full stop.

Coffee in Hong Kong - Knockbox hand-drip class

Last weekend, I went to Knockbox Coffee Company, one of the newer third-wave coffee shops in Hong Kong for their hand-drip (aka pour-over) workshop. You may remember that I went to another newish coffee shop, Rabbithole, to attend their coffee class not too long ago too. The Rabbithole class I attended was more of an overview of methods (they do a hand-drip class too), and I started to get curious about the different philosophies and theories baristas had about making coffee. (Plus, there was a lot of feedback and debate, on that blog post and off, about the different methods and the rationale behind them).

Dadong - Duck down, Beijing

Peking duck at Da Dong

According to my dad - back in 2010 or so - when in Beijing, we should skip the "classic" Quan Ju De and go to Dadong instead. That's a rule we (and I, when I've gone to BJ without him) have followed. This time, because I needed a baseline with which to compare Made in China, we found ourselves in Dadong again. Only this time, Dadong wasn't how we remembered it.

Housekeeping - All in a Hong Kong Second

I've always been a slow blogger, but recently the eagle eyed might have discovered a little more slowness than usual. There are two big things going on right now that are keeping me busier than ever (eating and writing already get pretty busy, I'll have you believe) so I thought I'd let you know and hopefully my tardiness will be somewhat excused.

A) Island East Markets.

Words cannot describe how excited I am about this one. On September 30, I'll be opening a farmers market!!!!! 

It'll be 40-plus stalls of local (Hong Kong) organic farmers, arts and crafts, delicious food and drink, jams, honey, snacks, eco-friendly homewares, plus bands, cooking demos... everything great about farmers markets in every other great city in the world is coming to Hong Kong. It's about time we had one, dontchyathink? 

We've been getting so much help from everyone, from finding the right organic farmers to cool vendors and more, and it's still a work in progress, so if you think you can help, please get in touch!

Meanwhile, we're on Facebook, Twitter, Sina Weibo, Vimeo, and have a blog, newsletter and website - come say hi!

B) A wedding. 

My wedding, to be precise. I've been looking at fabulous places, table settings, and enough white floaty fabric to wrap around the globe 5 times. 

Nothing, aside from the Chinese banquet location, has been settled. An extremely messy affair this is, I tell you. Just look at all the places I've already been to to check out as potential venues!

Chapel at Bethanie Hall. Nope, not religious and certainly no drinks allowed here!

Suites at the InterContinental, sadly not enough space for everyone and layout not ideal

Cowshed - love the cow, the boy doesn't because he grew up on a farm

Peninsula - fabulous deck but closed for renovations first 6 months of 2013 at least

Yee Tung Heen for Chinese banquets - not big enough for our gigantic family

American Club - decent deck, but the indoor part (coffeeshop) looks very tired

And of course, I might have gone just a little crazy at pinning white dresses on Pinterest...

So, please excuse me if I'm a little slower than usual at blogging!

Peking Duck, Made in China - Beijing

Carving Peking duck. Argh, gloves.

Not long ago, I wrote that the best Peking duck I've ever had was at Kowloon Tang, in Hong Kong. With that memory fresh in my mind, I set off to Beijing to try the "real" thing. It's my 4th or 5th time in Beijing now, and we've had our favourites (see: my dad's Beijing tips), one of which has been Da Dong. I revisited DD this time as well - more in a future post - but we also went to Made in China, which has always been highly regarded for its pan-Chinese cuisine cooked before your eyes in their glassed-in kitchens, but also for its Peking duck.