Beijing Boyce

I skipped going to the Goose and Duck for game one of the World Series and instead headed to John Bull Pub. As one friend said, “Let’s give the place a chance.” First, let me praise the breakfast: three savory mini beef patties, three slices of crisp bacon, a mound of fried mushrooms, two eggs, two slabs of toast and hash browns. Price: RMB50. Someone came over from John Bull’s sister establishment, Sequoia Cafe, with samples of their warm, moist, freshly baked muffins. Except for Clemens being out of the game too early, things were going well.

Then, during the seventh-inning stretch, there was an appearance by what I call the jackhammer ren. These are the guys with the 7-ELEVEN construction mentality – hammer, saw, drill, fill, bolt, wrench, destroy, create, and do it around the clock. That’s what they did — renovate directly below us. The whine of power tools was especially unfortunate as it made the TV reception squiggly.

Now, I’m not writing the following to single out John Bull Pub, but to describe a typical service problem in Beijing. Discarding my normal shyness, I asked the staff (the manager was away on business) to quell the racket and quiet soon reigned. Anyone who has lived in Beijing for over a month knows what happened 15 minutes later. The jackhammer ren were rak! rak! rakking! again. This time my complaint got a slightly desperate “What can I do about it?” look from the staff, which got an “I don’t know, but Goose and Duck isn’t that far away” in return, which bought 20 more minutes of peace. (I don’t know; maybe if Yao Ming played for the Houston Astros instead of the Houston Rockets, things would have been different.) What can I say except that this kind of thing happens all the time in Beijing. Unfortunately, this incident jinxed the Astros and was wholly responsible for them losing not just game one, but the entire World Series. Nice going, John Bull Pub!

(From Beijing Boyce III, first emailed on November 3, 2005)

My tequila shooting life is largely limited to senors Jose Cuervo and Pepe Lopez, accompanied by their amigos lemon and salt. It was an eye-opener when Frank Siegel of John Bull Pub hosted a tasting with more than a dozen brands. I sipped my way through 17 of them, with every (partial) shot taken straight up and warm. Amazingly, even a novice like me could detect differences in acidity and sweetness, and some tasted of oak, some left a nice slow burn on the palate, and some made you want to hack up a hairball.

A Mexican trade promotion rep provided a tequila primer — the drink is made from blue agave plants, it can be labeled as tequila if it contains at least 51% agave (go for 100% brands unless you want mystery alcohol), and aged tequilas are yellow due to storage in barrels, although cheaper brands cheat by using food coloring. With a dozen visiting reps from Mexican distilleries on hand, the event was fun, educational and surprisingly sobering. The drinks and buffet of tacos, burritos, rice, nachos and salsa were RMB120 — a tremendous value. Frank, who opened the city’s first non-hotel bar (see Five Questions for Frank below), is now serving Mexican fare every Wednesday.

(From Beijing Boyce II, first emailed on October 20, 2005)

A reporter from this yet-to-be-named newsletter stopped by John Bull Pub last Thursday to chat with owner Frank Siegel, credited with opening, in 1989, the city’s first non-hotel bar — the aptly named Frank’s Place. Over coffee, he gave us the rundown on 16 years of Beijing bar history and then answered five questions:

BB: I take it you didn’t have Guinness on tap back then. What drinks did you offer?

FS: We started with bottles of Beijing draft; the draft itself came later. San Miguel out of Hong Kong was big. At one time, we had Miller draft. There was actually a Miller beer garden at the Asian Games Village and we eventually got the beer. Spirits were never a problem.

BB: That tequila tasting was excellent. What’s the best event you’ve ever organized?

FS: Frank’s Place Polar Golf Outing. It started 10 years ago and the guys running Frank’s are still doing it.

BB: The Spanish wine tasting two years ago was big. A gentleman from the embassy was to give a talk on a Friday. We had a capacity of 30 and on Wednesday had 12 people signed up. There were 36 by Friday. In the meantime, the Spanish guy told all these people to come down. It was supposed to start at 7:30 and everyone was speaking Spanish, some were on the list and some weren’t, and we ended up with about 50 to 55 people. I was really nervous, but they were all saying, “Relax, we’re Spanish, just take your time getting ready.” We finally got going at 9 PM and we all had a great time.
BB: What’s the biggest single difference between running a bar in 1989 and now?

FS: There is more competition, more places. The population is more diffused — we didn’t have Shunyi then — and a lot of the client base is out of the city. We knew everyone back then.

BB: Besides John Bull Pub, what are you favorite bars and restaurants in Beijing?

FS: Because of the traffic, I usually go to local restaurants, but I’m impressed with Hatsune (Japanese restaurant) and the Orchard. For a nice glass of wine, Aria [in China World Hotel] and Press Club Bar in the St. Regis — I know the guys there, they’re nice people. But I really need to get out more.

BB: What’s your cure for a hangover?

FS: Drink Gatorade or Pocari Sweat and then go to the gym. It’s painful, but it works.

(From Beijing Boyce II, first emailed on October 20, 2005)

Time is running out for spending fantastic fall nights on a rooftop or deck. Options include The Big Easy (relaxing), Suzie Wong (people watching), Nuage (views of Hou Hai and the drum and bell towers) and Hai Bar (the same, but more rustic and cheaper). / Want to see the Astros win the World Series? Be a benchwarmer at the Goose and Duck or John Bull Pub. / Wine industry bigwigs constantly come to town since everyone wants a drop of China. I’m working on putting together wine tasting listings. / If you haven’t seen Ah-Q bring down the house at CD Jazz Club, catch their show on Thursday nights. Trombonist Matt Roberts says the house has been packed of late and he’s trying to figure out an encore. Ah-Q was playing at icehouse but the club, being a blues bar, wanted an, um, blues band, which makes you wonder why they hired a jazz one to begin with. / Steak and Eggs vegetarian omelet with hash browns and toast: RMB19. Get this and three other breakfast specials before 11 AM, or four RMB25 lunch specials, all October, as the place celebrates its anniversary. / Would Summergate wine please get a web page? You guys have some nice Antinori products, but make it too hard to find out about them. / The Starving Artists Party on September 15 at Yan Club was another finely run event by that’s Beijing, which includes the restaurant awards at Bar Blu and bar awards at Zing by Doodoo’s. It helps to partner with ASC Fine Wines, who poured Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sculpting in Time, which provided the eats. Funnily enough, I ran into a pair of Italian journalists were had just arrived in Beijing that day. And where did they hear about the party? From another journalist in North Korea. / The next issue includes Marketing Beverages on the Great Wall, Beer Mania, Books: Those Things Made Out of Paper, $10,000 wine glasses, A Bar with an Identity Crisis, and more. / Build the community: If you know people who would like this newsletter, pass it on. They just need to send a message to me to get on the mailing list. / Again, your comments and questions are welcome. I do realize that this issue is nearly 3,000 words long. Believe me: my fingers barely have the strength to pick up the single shot of 10-year-old Balvenie Single Malt I allow myself each month. Cheers, BB.

(From Beijing Boyce II, first emailed on October 20, 2005)