Beijing Boyce

The birth of a bar in six photos, but first…

Fubar (map) held its Feta Opening last Friday night and a dangerous place is this given the generous pours in its RMB30 mixed drinks and that it stands a five-minute walk from my apartment. Kudos to the staff for doing an above-average job, especially as some had little cocktail-making experience. In fact, Bob and Ariel of “Spirit It” were in Fubar a few days earlier teaching them some tricks of the trade. There were a few glitches – the mint ran out as people jumped on the Mojito special and there was a musical gap early on during the shift from laptop to turntables – but overall this opening went smoother than most and attracted a diverse crowd. The best part is that some other bars might take the Fubar lead and provide better liquor at better prices.

In any case, I have come to know Lager well since his days at The Rickshaw and Tun. And since, as mentioned, I live nearby, I have been taking photos of the bar’s development from empty shell to fully furnished “speak easy”. Here are six of them…

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Fubar (map) is holding its “soft opening” this Friday.

Soft openings, hard openings, pre-openings, official openings… Isn’t it time we brought some sense and fun to the concept of just how open is a bar, restaurant, or hotel? One way to do this is a cheese scale. For example:

• Soft opening: The Brie
• Semi-soft opening: The Mozzarella or The Feta
• Hard opening: The Cheddar or The Swiss
• Very hard opening: The Parmesan

I would argue the Fubar opening is The Feta. It’s not soft, like The Brie, because the place has been serving drinks for five days, and it’s not hard, like The Cheddar, because it needs fine-tuning in terms of decor, drink selection, and so on.

For even greater accuracy, we could adopt the Mohs scale. Although it pertains to the hardness of minerals, it could be adapted to bar openings. I suggest using the chart on this Wikipedia page, which ranks hardness from 1 to 10.

Thus, a bar that is open but not actively seeking customers might rank as “talc“, while on the other end of the scale, a place that is totally fully completely ready and open for business would rank as “diamond.” Here is the scale:

1. Talc
2. Gypsum
3. Calcite
4. Fluorite
5. Apatite
6. Feldspar
7. Quartz
8. Topaz
9. Corundum
10. Diamond

Given this, I would rank the hardness of the Fubar opening this Friday as “feldspar.” In any case, things get under way at 6 PM. To get in, press the button on the wall to open the sliding door…

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A pair of incidents this past week made me think again about value-for-money drinks in Beijing…

One: A visit to The Beach (map) at Block 8 where a bottle of  mass-market Champagne and six tins of local beer cost ~RMB1000. Two: A visit to Fubar (map) where a gin tonic made with Bombay Sapphire cost RMB30.

Different people value different things when it comes to a night out. I don’t put much value in “see and be seen” spots, thus spending a grand to drink a bottle of bubbly served in scratched and scuffed plastic glasses and beer in plastic tumblers on this rooftop is not my thing. (By the way, the average squat-on-a-stool, three-kuai-per-big-bottle-of-Yanjing drink-in-the-street joint in Beijing has better glasses. Maybe The Beach is worried about getting broken glass in the sand, but surely there is an alternative to plastic glasses that look like they went through ten years of use at a summer cottage.)

Anyway, I value things such as an earthy atmosphere, a diverse clientele, and – because I lack unlimited money and a massive expense account – decent drinks at decent prices.

This brings me to the bubbly. Contrary to the pop of its cork, Champagne – as opposed to sparkling wine – generally offers the the smallest bang for the buck of any alcoholic beverage in town. If you are of my mindset, and find it ridiculous to spend ~RMB700 — a typical price at a bar or club — for a bottle of exceedingly average Champagne, here are other ways to spend that cash (I will use some of my favorite spots as examples):

• ~12-15 quality cocktails at Q Bar (map), either while sitting at the long bar or on the sofas inside, or on the new deck outside, which despite its size offers intimacy and no minimum table charge.
• ~10 cocktails at Maison Boulud (map), which makes some of the more interesting drinks in town, including what is among my friends the love-it-or-hate-it Project 23.
• ~20 beers such as James Boag’s or VB either inside or on the deck at Danger Doyle’s (map), at The Den (map), at The Stumble Inn (map), or elsewhere.
• ~3-4 bottles of quality wine from more than a half-dozen countries at the hutong-style Palette Vino (map) in Dongsishitiao.
• 2 bottles of Russian Standard vodka, with mixers, at Chocolate (map).
• 35 shots of homemade rum at Salud (map) in Nanluoguxiang. (Note: the second branch of Salud is slated to open in Sanlitun North, opposite Tongli Studio, later this week.)
  
• 23 gin tonics, made – as noted above – with Bombay Sapphire gin, at the new Fubar (map). Or ~13 Hendrick’s gin tonics for those who want to go upscale.
• ~235 big bottles of Yanjing, in a glass or from the bottle rather than from a scuffed plastic glass, at many of the squat-on-a-stool-outside joints in the city.

You could also go for cocktails at Ruby Khi, downstairs from The Beach. And in defense of The Beach, the place is simply passing on the outrageous price of even the low-end Champagne available in Beijing. If you like bubbles, and care about how much you spend, you are better off finding a sparkling wine you like from Italy, Spain, Australia, or any other number of places.

Or doing your Champagne drinking at Sunday brunches, such as The Westin on Financial Street, when you can stuff your face with food and booze for about half the price of a bottle of Mumm’s or Moet-Chandon at the average club or bar in this city…

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Some happenings from the past week or so. As always, click the word “map” beside each venue to get its map, or to get its address sent to your phone for free in either Chinese or English, courtesy of Mobile Native.

Stone Boat (map): A nice crowd on hand Saturday night to watch Panjir play. This is one of the few places in the city center that you can visit and feel you are not, well, in the city center. Good music, good vibe, good times. By the way, based on more than four years of experience, here is a guide to drinks at The Stone Boat: wine = generous pour, beer = average pour, mixed drinks = miserly pour.

Klubb Rouge (map): There is talk of this place, the inactive part of a trio that includes Danger Doyle’s and Drei Kronen 1308, going through a makeover and reopening with a new mission, though a launch would be months down the road. More to come. And once again, kudos to Klubb Rouge for the most surreal PR conference I have attended.

Union (map): If there were an award for the gap between food value and service quality, this place would rank among my favorites. From Toaster-gate and Coffee-gate to the inability of servers to distinguish “rye” from “white” toast to being slow in delivering that initial coffee and then providing refills when only a sip has been taken, this place has had more than its share of moments. To give three example from this past Sunday:

1) The wireless was down for the fourth straight time though a staff member eventually got it working.

2) A friend and I asked for two orders of eggs Benedict and received one order of toast that we were told to share. Shades of Toaster-gate… So if I order an eggs Benedict, I get four pieces of toast, but if we order two eggs Benedict, and thus pay twice as much, we get the same mount of toast?  “If you want more toast, just ask,” I was told. Seriously, if it is a matter of cost, reduce the side of butter, since there is enough there to butter ten slices of bread.

3) Approximate exchange between me and the waitress:

Something to drink?

Coffee.

What kind of coffee?

Just a coffee.

You mean cappucci…

Just a coffee. A regular coffee. Just a regular black coffee.

[Still looks confused]

Could I have the menu, please?

[Hands me a food menu]

Could I have the drinks menu?

[I point to the word "coffee" on the menu]

That one.

Coffee.

Yes, a coffee.

How many?

Seven. No, I am joking. One. One coffee.

I realize these are not huge issues, the staff is very nice, and apparently it was the waitress’s first day. But on the other hand, Union is rather pricey. And if spots such as Le Petit Gourmand can provide decent service, then surely Union can pick up its game. Speaking of which…

Le Petit Gourmand (map): When I couldn’t get wireless at Union on Saturday, I headed here with DJ Chunky. I have written it before, I will write it again – that RMB35 chicken sandwich with salad and fries is a superb deal. But remember: bring an iPod because this spot repeats the same songs over and over and over again, over and over and over again, over and over and over again (ad infinitum).

Cheers (map): This spot, best known its live Xinjiang music on the weekends, is open again, though c0-0wner Leo – and his oil paintings – no longer appear to be in the picture.

Danger Doyle’s (map): Traffic is picking up at this place and it seems to have become a favorite with some of the city’s models on Friday’s ladies night.

The Den (map): For late-night sports viewing, can anyone beat this place? It seems perpetually full whenever there is an event on – whether it be rugby, cricket or the Wimbledon final – and that is most of the time.

Stadium Dog / Fubar: Look for a soft opening of the hot dog joint within the next week or so, with the bar to soon follow.

Kiosk (map): The two-floor second branch of this Nali Studio favorite is open. Look for the bright pink building across from Workers Stadium North and a block east of older Purple Haze. And expect the same high-value burgers.

Solana (map): With the winter blues gone, most seats near that strip along the waterfront – faced by Sex and Da City, HLG, et al – were full Friday night. But expect to drop some coin – we stopped at Lantung where the Corona is RMB45 and a so-s0 Mojito is RMB55.

Cosmo (map): Finding this place open seems to be a hit or miss proposition, as one reader reports dropping by five times and finding it closed on every occasion. Hopefully the kinks are soon worked out.

Pepe’s Pizza (map): Look for this spot to re-open this week with a new design and menu as well as a kid’s party area upstairs where the little ones can make their own pies.

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Chad Lager and Kevin Zhang will open a combination hot dog stand and speak easy on Worker Stadium grounds as early as late next month. I sat down with Lager, formerly associated with The Rickshaw, The Saddle Cantina, General Debauchery and Tun to ask him about the project.

You are known from the sports bar The Rickshaw and the night spot TUN. What can we expect from the new place?

We are setting up a two-part venue. The first part will be called Stadium Dog and feature gourmet hot dogs. Frankly, I think I can make a better hot dog than what is out there.

The second part will be a “speak easy” called Fubar, hidden behind the hot dog area out front, and will play on the idea of having a secret place to drink. We  can’t truly do a “speak easy”, but we want that feeling of people stumbling into a place they think no else knows about.

We plan plenty of unique events and cocktails, but you’ll have to wait for more details. I will say that we will have the best Bloody Mary in town.

How did you guys come up with the concept?

We have already seen the burger and burrito battles in Beijing, now we need better hot dog options. I remember going to Wrigley Field in Chicago and having great hot dogs and I think a place like Workers Stadium needs something just as good.

As for the speak easy, the idea came from Megan and KC, two sisters that I know from my days at The Rickshaw, who told me about a place called Milk and Honey in New York. I decided on the name Fubar through talking with friends – sorry, but it edged out your idea to call it Lady Bar. I know it is not an original name, as there are Fubars around the world, from Hollywood, where it is a gay bar, to San Francisco, where it is an electronic dance club, to Urumuqi, where it is some kind of pizza place. But we like it.

What kind of hot dogs can we expect?

We will have a least five different hot dogs – from a Braut and Kraut, which has bratwurst and sauerkraut, to a pizza-style dog with cheese on top. We will also have more than 20 toppings. You can get a good bun and you can get a good sausage in Beijing, but we need a place where you can customize your dog, so we will offer everything from baked beans and chili to a Great Wall of Mustard.

Who do you expect to go to this new place?

I have an image of a family or a group of soccer fans up front enjoying hot dogs before a Beijing Guoan game, while hidden inside are people dressed up and having excellent mojitos and martinis. I imagine people wondering why so many people are disappearing behind the hot dog area, and not coming back, and perhaps taking a peak inside to see what is going on.

Do you have any concerns about the location?

Not at all. I think it is an ideal location because you have a recognizable building – the stadium – that everyone can find. There is great potential here and five or six more places will open nearby over the next year. Also, while there are hot dogs in this town, there are few quality ones. I know people like the hot dogs at Maggie’s, so I promise we will have at least the “second best” hot dog in town – and you will know where it has been. I have talked to many friends and former customers at the places where I worked, and people seem excited about the idea.

When can we expect these places to be open?

Before Cro Bar in Solana opens. Kidding. You can expect to be enjoying hot dogs and cocktails in about 30 to 45 days.

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