Beijing Boyce

I popped into the basement supermarket of the Lufthansa Center earlier this week and discovered a bonanza of booze. Decent selections of imported wine, vodka, gin, sake and Whisky were to be found, including hard to find (in Beijing) Woodford Reserve Bourbon (561 kuai) and an impressive range of bottle sizes, from minis to magnums.

The Chinese wine included Great Wall, Dynasty and Fengshou, with plenty of vintages - well, according to the labels - in the 1990s. It also included rarely seen Huadong, although no recent vintages. The Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon were both 2000, the Riesling a 2002. A decent range of Grace Vineyard wines are available, from entry-level offerings to the Chairman’s Reserve.

I picked up the Huadong Riesling 2002 (76 kuai) and a Grace Premium Red 2001 (108 kuai) for my next blind tasting.

My constructive criticisms (some erroneously label them complaints) usually fall on deaf ears, but not so those of the woman who brought me kicking and screaming into the world and made my early years happy ones by including a shot of Johnnie Walker Blue in those baby bottles - just kidding, the Blue was off limits, I had to make due with the Black.

Her visit to our fair city a few months ago included trips to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall and, of course, The Rickshaw. At the latter, she declared the wings tasty but added that a much better experience would be had if only there were wetnaps with which to wipe that Buffalo sauce from one’s fingers. Mom spoke and The Rickshaw - in the true spirit of respecting one’s elders - listened.

The wings now come with wetnaps.

Thanks, Mom.

China Doll picked up numerous bar and club awards this year, but it sounds like playtime is over. Ai Wan, the face of this place, and a new investor have parted ways.

This might be a blessing in disguise for Ai Wan. Whether she is involved or not, China Doll seemed destined for decline. The designers did an admirable job but this space appears too limited to go any further and didn’t seem a particularly good fit for Tongli.

With her ties to Cloud Nine, and a following from China Doll, it’ll be interesting to see what she does next. Hopefully, it means no end to the Ai Wan Jamaica and the 42 Below (with a grapefruit slice, not an orange or lime one) cocktails.

Expect more than a few people to mosey on down to The Saddle tomorrow as the place rides into the sunset. Skyrocketing rent appears to be the key culprit for this spot begun by Kris Ryan and Nick Ma that became known for its burritos and margaritas. It spun off Cox, which closed a few months back, and The Rickshaw, doing a thriving business.

What is to become of the Saddle? Given trends on the street, namely, the opening of four Pure Girl bars, this strip may soon see a quintuplet of chaste ladies.

Browns, which went from bar of the year to bust of the year in the space of, uh, a year will reopen in two months, says an industry insider. One of the original investors is renovating the place and adding a restaurant in back.

As evidenced last night, the redesign is already underway, as workers touted rubbish outside. Inside, the wall enclosing the bar proper is gone, creating a massive open space. The room upstairs and at the back - once planned as a sake and vodka bar - has also been opened up and made accessible by a second staircase.

More on this to come…

See here for previous Browns stories.

PS. I’ve tried to contact the former managing partner of Browns about the circumstances of its closing, but have received no response.