Beijing Boyce

Rather than write a lengthy report about Saturday’s Food & Wine Experience at The Hilton, I thought it would be more fun to interview myself. Here we go:

Was that you on The Hilton’s marble steps standing in front of a broken bottle of wine?
It was. As I left, the paper bag provided by the organizers came unglued and a nearly full bottle of Heartland Dolcetto Lagrein fell out. The bottle exploded on the steps and attracted gawkers from far and wide. Fortunately, a half bottle of Heartland Shiraz stayed in the bag.

You mean you could buy wine there?
No. If you stay until the end of such events, sometimes the distributors give away opened bottles because they don’t want to waste them.

Why did you end up with Heartland?
I spent the last half hour at the Palette tables. I like Australian wines and Palette owner John Gai has an excellent portfolio. Palette’s Stefan Fleischer, as he did at this event two years ago, guided me through some lovely wines, particulary the Shiraz and Viognier.

What else did you like?
I liked the media session with wine writer Jeremy Oliver, supported by the Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation and ASC Fine Wines – I’ll write a separate post about it. He encouraged us to cover the top of our glasses with our palms and shake them – this gives wine a few hours’ worth of aeration. Make sure you have tissues handy if you try this at home.

Best of all was meeting winemakers, winery owners, distributors, writers and, especially, consumers. I met many people that I previously knew only by email, including Jennifer Zhang and Jessie Xiao at Summergate and Xavier Tondusson at Bacchus. Good to match faces with email addresses!

By the way, if logistically possible, I think the Champagne distributors should be in Zeta bar next year. It’s a perfect fit. I would also have the event run later into the afternoon.

Any disappointments?
I would love to see more countries better represented. As usual, pickings were meager from China (only Grace Vineyard), Austria, Portugal, Canada and some other nations. Having said that, we get more choice every year in Beijing, so overall I was happy with the selection.

However, I was disappointed at the light turnout Saturday. The event offered hundreds of wines and a buffet for 230 kuai – what more could you ask for? Compare this to Torres’ Taste of the Nations event last weekend: it offered far fewer wines but attracted a lot of attendees, even though it was only marginally cheaper.

Spreading the Food & Wine Experience over two days – the trade show was on Friday – might help explain the attendance. Some trade people could not attend Friday and gave tickets to friends or customers who might otherwise have come on Saturday. Next year, the hotel might also want to pair its traditional magazine ads with more marketing via e-mail and word-of-mouth, which is the key way many people get information about events.

I talked to four distributors about attendance and all of them were unhappy, especially as they had to pay for table space and provide staff, wine and literature for the event. On the other hand, 18 distributors participated and most didn’t seem to do much to promote this event, at least if my inbox is any indication.

Which distributors attended?
Eight companies had the vast majority of the 182 wine tables: ASC (27), Aussino, Jointek and Summergate (25 each), Jebsen (24), and H&L, Palette and Torres (12 each). Other distributors were: DT Asia (6), Metro (4), Bacchus and Pernod Ricard (2 each) and Ao Hua, Beijing GLP, East Meets West, Longfellows, Moet Hennessey Diageo and TBC – The Beverage Company (1 each). Montrose was notably absent. The other 12 tables featured food, glassware, wine accessories, magazines, and bottled water.

This breakdown suggests the Hilton might want to drop the “food” from “food & wine” in the event title.

So, was it worth it?
Definitely. As mentioned, hundreds of wines were available for tasting. A Shiraz lover could compare and contrast what each distributor offers – dozens of wines in total. If you like French wines, you could have tasted to your heart’s content. For ten years, this has been one of the wine events of the year for consumers in Beijing. You just need to ensure you have a sturdy bag if you stay until the end.

Note: Get my free e-newsletter about nightlife and wine in Beijing by sending an email to beijingboyce@yahoo.com with “sign me up” in the subject line. For more China wine info, join the Facebook group Grape Wall of China.

Word has it former 5:19 Bar & Grill owner Dave McCullough is preparing to open a new bar in the Fulicheng area, citing the lack of drinking holes in that environs. Before opening 5:19 on Super Bar Street, Dave ran Artifacts near Chaoyang Park’s West Gate. For some back and forth on the merits and demirits of opening in this area, see here.

Having sampled the vast majority of the city’s drinking holes, The Cellar Rat is a hard imbiber to impress and thus I suggested we start a recent confab at a new microbrewery and pub called Toper. Alack and alas, my less than stellar navigational skills left us lost, so we decided to make like a compass and “go north.” This meant visits to several spots associated with our chillier neighbors – Russia and Mongolia.

We first stopped at the Russian-owned AmbassaD’or Club, near One Thousand and One Nights. The Cellar Rat found the decor somewhat kitschy. “Russian bars and restaurants are always a bit over the top and this one is definitely catering to the clientele,” said TCR. “It’s like ABBA, though. It’s a bit cheesy and out-of-date, but still sort of enjoyable.”

The wine prices are excellent. A Montana Pinot Noir goes for 255 kuai a bottle, a small mark-up, while the budget-conscious can grab a bottle of Santa Rita for 120 kuai. The list includes eight wines by the glass at 25 kuai and up; pours comes in proper glassware. The seating options range from bar stools to a range of tables, the manager speaks English and the staff is efficient.

With a bottle below our belts, so to speak, we yo-ho-ho’d to Treasure Island. This place takes the kitsch up a notch, from the fake tree in the entryway to the disco ball inside, but is spacious and has a worn but warm feel. Expect the staff to expect you to speak Russian, though ordering by pointing at the menu is easy enough.

The main attraction is the floor show. The Thursday night performance featured seven acts, including a trio of women dancing in what I would guess are traditional Russian outfits, in skimpy sailor uniforms, in Central Asian costumes and to what The Cellar Rat described as “sexy music.”

The highlight: a pole dancer that defined the word athleticism. She easily whipped up the four-meter pole and spun sideways, upside down, with both hands, with one hand, with no hands, and with neither hands nor feet (okay, I made that last one up). Several patrons pulled groin muscles just watching this. Notably, she did it while wearing a slinky dress and a G-string. I am not mocking: such skill is humbling for someone who failed the rope-climbing test in physical education class in high school. By the way, it was nice to see the manager, who seemed a model of efficiency, sit down with the performers for some post-show victuals.

We next headed for the glamour of Hollywood, which I suppose one could describe as a somewhat drabber Russian Maggies. This is a spacious spot with a large four-sided bar in the center, around which foreign men sit with beers and decide whether or not to make contact with the ladies. Take it or leave it, depending on how you swing (we left). By the way, the male toilet attendees try to provide shoulder massages at the sink for tips. Sidestepping them is not easy.

Accompanied by a T shirt-wearing tourist named Bob we met at Hollywood, we made the last stop Maggies. Packed to the rafters and offering decent music, plenty of people-watching opportunities and the famous hot dog cart out front, Maggies was, well, Maggies.

One of the joys at Maggies, especially the old one, is watching Mongolian women casually dispose of hyper-competitive men on the pool table. A vivid example is the guy heavily chalking his cue on every shot, agonizingly checking angles, winding up a dozen times and then sorely missing, followed by his Mongolian opponent draining balls left and right while showing as much apparent interest as she might in checking her nails.

By the way, next time you visit Maggies, take some time out from staring down tops and gaze skyward. This is a lovely building with a high stucco ceiling crossed by colorfully decorated beams normally associated with traditional Chinese architecture. A small bit of reflection on the past might trigger some on the future and prevent soon-to-be-regretted alcohol-fueled decisions you are about to make. Trust me, one hot dog, not two, is enough.

The artists known only as “the band” (Photo: E. Tea)

I sat down with Leo, the man behind Cheers, the bar inside Tongli that somehow brings together pool, nude paintings, cheap beer, Bourbon, and Xinjiang music, and make it all work. Drawing one of the more diverse crowds in town – common interest: that music – Cheers can be one of funnest places in town on a weekend. Here’s a short interview with Leo.

How did you get into the bar business?
I graduated from the Central Art Academy in Beijing in 2003 and I wanted to go back to Phoenix. This was during the SARS crisis and it was going to be complicated to return, so I decided to stay in Beijing longer. I thought, “What can I do?” I could have opened a gallery or coffee shop, but I didn’t think that would work, so I decided on a bar.

Lots of bars were closing at that time, so I bought one on [the former Sanlitun] South Bar Street called Native Bar. The business was never good there and they had changed owners at least five times, but it was pretty cheap. I spent 500,000 kuai to buy it, rent it and decorate it. Nobody thought it would work.

Then I got a band – some Xinjiang guys – and business got really good. The bar had a good name – Cheers. People identified with it.

It was knocked down [when South Bar Street was razed]. I tried to relocate to an area with a lot of Japanese restaurants, because the rent was pretty cheap but no one went there. That was in 2005.

So, I gave that up and relocated here in Tongli.

Why Tongli?
After South Bar Street was knocked down, this seemed the place to go for foreigners in Chaoyang and that area. When I opened, Tongli only had Bar Blu and Top Club, now Kokomo. I could pick any space.

I opened around Christmas in 2005. The first time I opened, it was packed, Lots of old friends and new people showed up, and people walking by [to go to Bar Blu or Top Club] came in, too.

The music was kick-ass – it was the same guys who played at Cheers on Sanlitun South Street.

What’s the concept behind Cheers?
Simple, relaxed, easy to make friends, a little bit cozy. We’re not aiming to make a lot of money during the Olympics, but we hope to continue building up a crowd. Since the WTO opened China, I’ve always thought more and more foreigners would come to Beijing. Our main niche is foreigners – Chinese are not really bar drinkers, they’re restaurant drinkers, and we didn’t expect them to come in and spend 1000 kuai on a bottle of Cognac.

Who are the typical customers?
We get a mixed crowd – Americans, Australians, people from England. We get people from India, from Africa, from South America. We get a lot of French. These people know music and expect it to be good.

What’s the biggest challenge?
The place is quite limited in terms of space, so we make enough to pay our rent, but don’t make a lot of money. Other bars can make money because they have an outside area, but I can’t really expand that way. We have a lot of regulars.

What do you like about running Cheers?
When I play music and people dance. When they chill out to the music or when they shout out and sing to the music. Because I treat them right, they respect me.

The entrance at Maggies has been moved so you now enter on the far side of the lengthy bar. But that is a minor change compared to what appears to be coming. Much of the front deck is blocked off for construction - steel beams rise three meters and suggest a major addition is in the works. No worries for the hungry, though, as the hot dog cart has simply been moved to the side.

Speaking of which, on Sanlitun’s main north strip, Swing, which I understand is linked in some way or another to Maggies, has added a hotdog cart – it’s 25 kuai per cartlidge.

I would have given two thumbs up to Torres for last weekend’s Taste of the Nations, an event in Trader’s Hotel that featured some 150 of the distributor’s wines, but my hands were attached to a glass that brought unlimited refills. Instead, I’ll provide written praise.

I would guess well over 200 people attended and, at 188 kuai per person, received good value for their money. I sampled many of the Italian and Australian brands but, being more of a swallower than a spitter, decided not to try the full range. The crowd included some Torres competitors and regulars from Sequoia‘s Friday night wine tasting group.

A few suggestions to those putting on major wine events:
- If a wine is done, why display the bottle? I wanted to try Grace Vineyard’s Chairman’s Reserve but it had run out when I arrived at 2:45 PM (the event ran until 6 PM). The same held for the Champagne. Why taunt me with the bottles when the bubbly is gone?
- Live bands are okay, but they tend to interrupt the conversations of wine lovers who are focused on the vino going in their mouths rather than the music going in their ears.

Anyway, enough whining about the wining. A good event this was and let’s hope the Taste of Nations becomes an annual one.

The Hilton holds its tenth annual Food & Wine Experience this Saturday, November 10. It’s about as must-attend as a wine event gets in Beijing. I interviewed Hilton GM Vlad Reyes and F&B Manager Philippos Arghirides about the history behind it and what we can expect this year.

Boyce: How did the first Food & Wine Experience get started and what was the response from trade and the public?

Reyes: In 1997, the only places people could enjoy good wines in Beijing were in hotels. With the strong reputation that our Louisiana restaurant had for its wine list, it was a natural event to organize. The restaurant manager started it together with all the big wine distributors in town.

It was a smashing success from day one. In fact, it was a multi-day event and several guests stayed overnight in the hotel to be able to enjoy the wines without the risk of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Boyce: What have been some of the highlights over the years?

Reyes: Every year, the event carries a theme. In the five years I have seen this grow, we have had themes such as wine and lifestyle, wine and art, and wine and jazz. The gala dinner is always the culminating event for the weekend, and leading winemakers and chefs have graced the occasion, including from Leeuwin Estates and Penfolds. This year, we will feature wine critic Jeremy Oliver.

Boyce: How many wines will be featured this year? What kind of seminars can visitors expect?

Arghirides: This year we have 193 booths, our highest number ever, plus media, food and equipment suppliers. There will be 200 brands and approximately 1,000 different wines. This makes the Hilton Beijing Food and Wine Experience the biggest wine exhibition in Beijing.

Boyce: What makes the tenth anniversary event different from other years?

Arghirides: In a nutshell, the major differences are the number and variety of products, having Australian wine guru Jeremy Oliver host wine classes and the gala dinner and having our first 10-course gala dinner paired with 10 different wines. We will also have an auction of rare wines, some which are unavailable in China and are rare finds in Asia, with the benefits going to charity.

Note: The Food & Wine Experience runs from 1-5 PM; entry is 230 kuai and includes a brunch buffet.

Shanghai’s antipodean paragon of pub proclamations, Winopete, is up and writing again after a multi-month absence. Denizens of our sister city to the south are well-advised to subscribe to said scribbler’s e-newsletter (email winopetechina@yahoo.com with “a dingo stole my baby” in the subject line).

From his most recent newsletter:

• “[Check out] Sasha’s (corner of Hengshan and Dongping Roads), which holds a wine buffet every Friday, when it’s an all-you-can drink deal from a selection of about a dozen wines from 6.30pm-9.00pm for just RMB148. A lot of the wines are drinkable lower end labels, with one or two nasty Nelly’s, but most weeks there are a few roses among the thorns to keep the pickier plonkheads happy (e.g. Pedroncelli 2002 Merlot, Jim Barry 2004 Shiraz). Note, the wine selection changes each week.”
• “Forget Beyonce and listen to some proper music instead. The Blarney Brothers, an Irish band based in Hong Kong, will perform traditional Celtic music with a modern twang at O’Malley’s this Tuesday and Wednesday (November 6th and 7th) about 8.30pm. Come and check it out, while downing a pint or two of the black stuff.”
• “Every Friday the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (“AustCham”) holds a drinks function at the Le Royal Meriden Hotel’s 789 Bar from 6.30-9pm approx. Yep, fair dinkum, the Poms, Yanks and everyone else hold their sundowners once a month, but we Aussies need an excuse for a business drink at least once a week. Don’t get me wrong, all are invited, just don’t talk about the rugby, George Bush or Johnnie Howard. Put the ayi on overtime to mind the ankle-biters and other half, then come down for RMB15 Coopers beers, RMB30 wines and join the throng where everyone’s flappin’ their gums. You’ve got kangaroos in the top paddock if you miss this!”

Just an update on my earlier post on SALT, which it taking over The Park Grill space in TRIO. The restaurant, expected to seat 80, is set to open on November 28.

According to an SMS going around town, The Saddle: Luga era – officially reopens this Saturday night with half-price drinks. This comes two weeks after the burrito and beer spot officially closed and just over a week after Luga, known best as the “hey” guy at the Saddle, Cox and The Rickshaw, apparently told the owners that he had grabbed the spot for himself (I went by The Saddle twice this past week to talk to Luga but the place has been closed both times).

This is one of the more intriguing recent stories in the bar scene and it will be interesting to see how things work out…

Expect for the guys behind The Saddle, Cox and The Rickshaw to soon have a new place open.

Props to Beijing Talk for giving props to yours truly in its November issue. Not only did the magazine mention and include a few pictures from The Rickshaw Rally I blogged live, but also included info on the upcoming Project H about which I reported a few weeks ago. Beijing Talk reports that the Project H bar will be called Spy. 

Meanwhile, the October 18-31 issue of City Weekend included an interview with yours truly about Chinese wine. (Note: My Grape Wall of China blog will see major changes over the next few weeks.)

Thanks also to that’s Beijing for running my bar blurbs in the magazine’s weekly 7 Days e-newsletter (and especially to PP for his infinite patience with my tardiness).

Much appreciated all around.

I popped into the new JW Marriott two Tuesdays back for an open house with managers and sales/marketing staff from more than a dozen of the company’s hotels in China. A few quick notes:

• The hotel’s bar will be called Loong and revolve around a modern dragon theme.
• Pinot restaurant will feature a wide range of, no surprise, Pinot, including Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio.
• The ballroom will seat up to 1,000 people, making it a much-needed option for large events in Beijing.

A great idea to bring together so many GMs and sales and marketing people under one roof, and enjoyable to try some of the hotel’s food, including Beijing duck, dim sum, and Vietnamese specialities.

I’ll have more on the hotel, expected to open by year’s end, and it’s food and beverage offerings soon.