Beijing Boyce

Get Boned this Saturday

I don’t usually write about aircraft carriers or chili peppers but here are four upcoming summer events…

June 25: The inaugural DazeFeast, with more than a dozen bands and plenty of roast lamb, will be held at 2 Kolegas starting at 3 PM. Entry is free. The lineup includes Maggie Who, making its last appearance, as well as what is arguably the nation’s second-best blues band, the book deal-less Black Cat Bone (just kidding, these guys are still my favorite, even if I no longer feel any guilt). Expect this one to be an all-nighter.

June 25: Loyalty dictates that I mention my country’s national day party at the Canadian International School. (Let’s hope the emcees do not continually plug all the “great” food available long after it has run out, as happened one year. Mini rant over.) This event tends to be a family friendly and this year includes a Canada Idol contest, the annual Beijinger magazine chili-eating contest and live bands.  Starts at 3 PM; tickets rmb160 at the door.

(Note: Since Canada Day is July 1 and US Independence Day is July 4, I am aiming to get a small group together and do a modest pub crawl of Canadian and American owned joints on July 2. If you’re interested in joining, let me know.)

July 2:  Last week, DJ Phil from Youth Club and 1F, and formerly Tun Bar, told me he will be playing a “New Moon Party” on Yuetuo Dao a.k.a. Moon Island with DJs Saul from Punk, Jealous from 1F, and visiting Moto from London. According to this site, attendees can go jet skiing, fishing and motorbiking. Tickets are rmb100, from spots such as  1F, Tun, Suzie Wong, Fubar, Zarah Bolou and Drum & Bell, and there are buses (rmb100) to the venue from Sanlitun and Guomao.  More info here.

July 2: And last but not least, the third annual Aircraft Carrier Party is set  for Tianjin, with Kokomo’s DJ El-Mar and more than a dozen DJs on three stages.  Tickets are rmb250 before June 29 and rmb30 from June 30 on (price includes return bus trip) and available at Kokomo, Salud (Nanluoguxiang), Lavita and Nola. Buses leave from Chaoyang Park and Guomao. More details here.

Oops.

After posting about the Titanic II cocktail created by Paul Mathew at Flamme last night, I decided it would be unfair to not mention a drink he created earlier that evening. Let me first say that rare is the bartender one can approach, ask “Since this pollution sucks, how about inventing a drink called The Green Lung?” and watch create a tasty and original concoction in a matter of minutes. Some bartenders would refuse to do it; others would be incapable; only a few would be both willing and able to see thought such a project.

Here’s Mathew’s recipe for The Green Lung: gin, grapefruit bitters, Chartreuse elixir vegetal and Benedictine, with a lemon twist.

The Green Lung checks in at ~400,000 booze parts per million compared to a measly high of 460 parts for Beijing air pollution yesterday. I suggest you order three at a time. Sometimes two Green Lungs aren’t enough in this city…

New bar and lounge Sealing has the potential to become party central given a layout that can handle four get-togethers simultaneously and a location across from the club strip on Workers Stadium West. Located atop Italian restaurant Metro, Sealing offers a low-key but stylish space, with the main area including a marble-topped three-sided bar, a handful of lounge areas with sofas in blacks and mottled browns, and high tables and chairs to go along with the brick wall, wood paneling, candles and art. There is also an entire wall with spirit bottle cutouts illuminated from behind, and that seems a bit much, but overall this is a nice space. Sealing has a smaller room and two deck areas, both facing the street, with seating ranging from 15 to 30 people.

As for drinks, expect to plunk down rmb20 for soft drinks, rmb25 and up for beer (the selection is small though I believe I saw Acme Pale Ale at ~rmb50), and cocktails at rmb45 and up, with more than a dozen house specialties – they have names such as Shy Girls and Miss Yoyo – from rmb55. A bottle of Duval-Leroy Champagne is rmb680 while Veuve Clicquot will cost your rmb860 – or you can get two bottles of Pikes Riesling for the same price.

Sealing is still getting up to speed with its cocktails: my gin martini went down a bit rough and I noticed some uncertainly behind the bar with other drinks. But on the whole, I found the employees attentive and serious about their work, so there is plenty of potential here, though the waitresses’ outfits are a bit stiff and something casual might be a better fit.

As for the name Sealing – and the motto “Sealing your memories here”– that will no doubt be the source of more than a few quips but hopefully it turns out to be the biggest criticism of this place.

Now if Pavillion down the street can get its act together…

The crab was *this* big!

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Jingshen Seafood Market in Beijing is not the kind of spot you want to visit if you get squeamish seeing oysters shucked, fish cleaned, crocodiles stuck in small tanks, or the occasional sea creature floating belly up. But it is where a lot of seafood served in this city’s restaurants come from. I visited last month with a group that was led by Migas chef Aitor Olabegoya and included visiting Spanish chef Carles Tejeda. The market is huge, with outdoor and indoor areas, and stocks everything from Canadian lobsters to Australian king crabs to sea cucumbers, crocodiles and smoked salmon. There are restaurants where you can have your seafood prepared though we didn’t visit any on this trip. Here are eight photos from the morning plus one of Tejeda making a “gin tonic oyster” at Migas.

Tejeda and Olabegoya check the crabs

A parking lot turned seafood market

Finishing the visit with a game of chess

Unsinkable? This went down in about five minutes (Pic: P Mathew)

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The best bad movie I have seen over the past year is Titanic II.

Spoiler alert: I’m about to summarize the plot in less than 40 words so stop reading here if you don’t want to know it.

[Pause]

The plot: A second and superior – nay, unsinkable – Titanic sets sail on the hundredth anniversary of the original launch but is doomed when ice shelf collapses in the Arctic send not one but two iceberg laden tsunamis hurtling across the Atlantic.

Atrocious story line but — given the cheesy acting, crude special effects and mind-boggling plot inconsistencies — it has a “so bad it is good” quality to it. (A favorite scene: the ship’s captain being told he must reach warmer, less iceberg-friendly waters – and has but 15 minutes to do so. Another: a sub captain who, told to rescue the Titanic, dramatically says, “Let’s get this cigar smoking!”)

Anyway, it seemed right that a cocktail exists that is as good as this movie is bad so I asked Paul Mathew at Flamme last night if he would make one. Luckily, he not only came up with a recipe but also created a ship-shaped garnish to fit the occasion. The Titanic II ingredients: apple juice ice ball (a.k.a. the “iceberg”) with Don Julio Reposado tequila, apple juice and grapefruit bitters.

By the way, if you ever make this drink, carefully consider the angle of your garnish. Mine came at such a slope that, had it been the Titanic II, saving anyone would have been near impossible. Can put a guy in a reflective mood…