Beijing Boyce

Looks brown to me...

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Because when people look at me, they automatically think of Usher* — and, no doubt, vice versa — Street Hustle Promotions invited me to try three cocktails made in honor of the R&B singer’s upcoming concert this Sunday at Wukesong Arena (for tickets, email events@streethustlepromotions.com or call 15901-201-771 / 15210-183-020).

Four Beijing bars have made such cocktails — Zeta, Fubar, Twilight, and Apothecary — and Thomas Talhelm of Street Hustle invited me to the latter. After a few “Who the F is this guy?” glances from the other hustlers / hustlettes, we all chilled out and sampled the cocktails, including “The Black One“,  the name of which pissed off at least one reader over yonder at City Weekend.

Although I like all colors of the rainbow, so to speak, this turned out to be my favorite of the three, although that spicy finish — they might want to try 7/8 of a “tine” of chipotle pepper rather than a full one — means a single serving per night would do. Most people disagreed and instead preferred “The White“, which in comparison is fruity (IMHO, too much so) and refreshing, especially attractive given the heat. (See all three recipes here.) I’m planning to try the Fubar creation tonight and hope to find it “usheriffic.”

This is the first time I have been to Apothecary in a few months because I’ve had several unremarkable martinis there, mostly due to the olives, at hefty prices, but I’ll stop in soon for a non-Usher related visit to try them again…

By the way, Apothecary is now open on Mondays. And kudos to the staff for its patience last night, given they had a lot of people, including a CCTV crew, on hand.

By the way II, I saw in the email from Street Hustle something about the “first ever foam party.” A buzzer on that claim if they are talking about Beijing. From 2006:

Browns now serves “jungle juice” during Wednesday ladies’ nights, which means people may soon be swinging from the rafters as well as dancing on the bar. Speaking of Browns, the foam party two weekends ago saw bubbles upon bubbles for most of the night, but they had burst by Sunday brunch. The place was virtually empty, yet it took over 20 minutes to get a simple breakfast and the COFFEE MACHINE WAS BROKEN! “If this had been my first visit to Browns, I would never go back,” said a downright bitter and caffeine-withdrawn M-Dawg.

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* I mean this usher.

ApotheCCTV...

A pair of pieces on Parkside packed in one post. Call it two for one; buy one, get one free; whatever. They come in no particular order. If you like beer, you might want to read B first. If you like writing that sounds like it came from someone who simultaneously went off the meds and blew a few circuits in the grammar-monitoring part of the brain, I recommend A.

(A)

Parkside Bar, Grill, and DIY Stella Station: Visited mid-afternoon last Tuesday to grab grub before 6 PM wine tasting; learned new menu to start next day; able to order burger from it. Burger tasty: juicy patty topped with processed cheese – kind that comes as individual plastic-wrapped slices – that inspired slight McDonald’s double-cheeseburger flavor. Accompanying fries heavy in hiccup-inducing way. Price: RMB78; ouch; RMB48 club sandwich better value. Since learned finalized menu has burger at RMB68, patty topped with cheddar slab. Parksider gave personal touch by adding two tiny ketchup bowls with burger after noted in past post that single thimble-full not sufficient. Asked if I was happy. Said would be ecstatic if had utensils: forgotten this time like last. In lieu of aforementioned non-provision of utensils during last visit, another Parksider said might be idea to ‘forget’ them in future as running joke involving me, staff; might amusingly lead me to bring own fork, knife. Made mental note to match jocularity of suggestion and forget to pay for meals when utensils absent. Kidding. Bought World Cup Ghana pin for RMB20; World Cup T-shirts available for RMB100. Wine tasting held far side of bar where small group sipped Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir as sweat accumulated on faces, trickled down backs. Deduced gaping space between Parkside patio and interior might be cause of Brazilian mid-summer rain forest-type heat, humidity inside.* Realized mention of “savoriness” in wine tasting notes due to sweat dripping into glass. Removed pants to cool down. Snacks accompanying wine, including blue cheese dip, tasty. After handful of visits to Parkside, thumbs up for general taste of food, quality of wireless signal, comfy seating, Samuel Adams deal at happy hour; concerns about price of food, rationing of ketchup, potential for heat stroke…

(B)

Parkside Bar, Grill, and Sauna:Have no patience waiting for your draft to arrive? Fancy pouring your own? If either or both are the case, you will be interested in the DIY Stella table at Parkside. It will feature a keg below, a tap on top, and space to comfortably fit six to eight drinkers. The flow is tracked by an electronic counter and the price will likely be about 200 kuai for three liters (33.3 kuai per pint) and 600 kuai for ten liters (30 kuai per pint). And for newbies to pouring Stella, instructions will be provided. This table should soon be ready and given–at least as far as I know–that it is the only one of its kind in Beijing, it might end up being the city’s toughest to book…

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* Other recent nominees for the Free Sauna Awards:

• The Park Hyatt: During a wine tasting in a third-floor function room, people removed jackets, loosened ties, and sat bathed in sweat for hours as the staff seemed unable or unwilling to lower the temperature (I asked six different staff members to do so). Five-star hotels and one-star air conditioning are not a good pairing.
• Paddy O’Shea’s: After walking from the Capital Club to Dongzhimen last Wednesday, and getting sweatier than a monkey in a microwave, I thought I would drop by this Irish pub to cool down, but alack and alas no air conditioning off on this afternoon.

[Please pretend there is an image from Finding Nemo here. I'm too busy to go fishing for one.]

Fine dining fans in Beijing perked up at word last year that Japanese celebrity chef  Nobu Matsuhisa would open a restaurant in the former Pinot in the JW Marriott. The apparent plan: Close Pinot near the end of 2009, open Nobu at the start of 2010. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen and the project seems to be treading water. A rep with the Nobu Beijing operation told me via email that construction continues on what is expected to be a 200-seat restaurant, but wouldn’t confirm whether or not the place would open this year.

Meanwhile, Shanghai-based bar chain Constellation was supposed to open in Beijing in May. A source tells me that project is still in the works but — surprise, surprise — landlord issues need to be worked out. I’ll try to find out more about this project…