Beijing Boyce

Joop Shen, who’s worked at China Doll, The Bank* and (most recently) Mingle over the past year, is moving to Project H, a large restaurant, lounge and deck development in Sanlitun’s Nali Studio that management says will open by the end of January. Shen will serve as general manager.

Billy Kawaja, executive chef at the Canadian Embassy, is also on board at Project H and will head up the French-Chinese restaurant, the Asian tapas menu in the lounge and the grill menu on the deck. Kawaja is known best for his brunch menu at Café St. Laurent.

Meanwhile, the management behind Project H, which runs establishments such as Alfa and Le Hugo, plans to open a second Muse in Nali as well as a strip of five bars nearby. More details on the latter to come soon.

* A series of SMS messages from The Bank announces that pole dancing will be featured every Friday night.

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.

Spencer Grey Group, which runs Alfa, Muse, Café St. Laurent and Le Hugo, among other Beijing establishments, will soon open Project H, a one-thousand-square-meter bar, restaurant, lounge, and patio complex on Sanlitun North. I spoke to company bigwig Blane Kieng about current and upcoming projects.

Why did you get into the bar business and why Alfa?
I started Muse [a Chaoyang West restaurant] in May 2003, during SARS. It was doing well and we constantly had people eating there and then asking us if they could leave their car so they could pop down to Suzie Wong’s for a drink. I thought that if I could get them for dinner, why not for drinks?

I looked for a location and checked out the space that is now Purple Haze (across from Gongti North). It had a very shi shi design by a well-known artist. I didn’t want to throw out the design, but it wasn’t working. We went to the next hutong for a drink, to a bar called Emergency Room, and someone said, “Why not buy this place?” I took it over and started to do my own thing.

Why did you call the place Alfa?
I wanted a name that easily translated into English and Chinese - I wanted both crowds (foreigners and locals). In terms of the logo, Alpha means first and I also thought that since it started with “a”, it would be listed near the beginning of most directories. I used Alfa instead of Alpha, because graphically it looked better.

What were some of the milestones in Alfa?
Six months in we started the 80s nights. It was not that successful at first - we drew a lot of expats but not many locals. Three years later, many people have heard those 80s songs many times and know how to dance to them.

The following March we redesigned the patio and changed it from an open space to a designed space. We added beds and running water, gave it a Southeast Asia resort feel, and it took off.

We redesigned the interior the next fall. Before it was like a cave. We improved the layout and extended the upper floor, so that the place would carry us over the winter periods.

The next year, we made steady progress, and then in the third year [this year] we redid the patio [which included enclosing it]. It has been a runway success. Café St. Laurent [which uses the Alfa space for Sunday brunches] has helped expand the market and the 80s nights this summer have come into their own.

What does the Alfa crowd drink?
Mostly cocktails - it’s a casual and relaxed atmosphere from Sunday to Thursday, and raucous on the weekends. Expats tend to go on Fridays and locals on Saturdays.

Your new effort, Project H, sounds a lot like Block 8.
It’s pretty much the same concept. We will have a restaurant, a bar, a club, and a patio and rooftop garden in one venue. We’re shooting for an atmosphere where people know each other. It’s a place you will go to see and be seen and also to meet people you know.

We’re shooting for a crowd that wants nice food, nice drinks and good service. Cocktails will be 50 to 60 kuai. Where Alfa is now - we want to move it up a notch.

What would you say to those who think Sanlitun is too seedy?
That’s the old Sanlitun. The new Sanlitun, on the north and south sides, will be different. It will have five-star hotels, Armani and LV shops - we’re going along with the development.

Even though Sanlitun is seedy now, the area surrounding it and the people living there are not. They are looking for a good meal, good drinks and a good patio. We’ll have the best patio in Sanlitun. It will have good views of Chaoyang Park and all the way south to Q Bar.

When will Project H open?
We’ll open the fifth floor [restaurant, bar and lounge] the first week of January. From January until spring festival will be the soft opening. The full launch will come afterward and the rooftop will open mid-April.

Providing good service in Beijing is a major challenge. How will you deal with this?
A large percent of our effort is having better staff and training, training, training. You have staff focused on the short-tem, looking for a higher salary next month. The best we can do is offer good salaries, treat the staff well, and provide benefits like a good atmosphere. Our staff will work somewhat on a commission basis in order to provide incentives.

What are your favorite drinks and watering holes in Beijing?
I’m a big martini drinker and I judge a place by how well it makes them - I like a dirty gin martini with three olives. Q Bar, Centro, Red Moon Bar, they make good drinks.

Note: Spencer Grey Group has a strip of four to five bars, also to be located in Sanlitun, in the works. I’ll have more on this later.

The winter chill shall soon be upon us, so I met friend and fellow wine lover, The Cellar Rat (TCR), at Apertivo on Tuesday night to relax on the patio and fuel up before going on a walkabout. The Cappuccino (20 kuai) was tasty, the personal-size salami pizza (25 kuai) a decent snack, and the place moderately full, a good showing for a Tuesday after a weeklong vacation. (Note: I dropped into Apertivo last Friday with Eddie O and Jolly and also enjoyed a drink there, the only downside being the frequent beeping horns, shrieking car alarms and grumbling motorcycles on the facing street that would work so much better if it were pedestrian-only.)

TCR and I finished our beverages, tied our shoelaces, and headed out. Our first stop was L’Etage, around the side and on the second floor of Tongli Studio. It appears the place has changed hands, become a wine bar, and started selling bottles, mostly French labels, imported by its new owner, who we were told supplies numerous French restaurants. The bottle prices seem reasonable and the place is comfortable enough, especially the snug side balcony fitted with about a half-dozen tables for two, though the open window of Taniwha just above it means loud music is your likely companion as the night wears on.

The Smugglers, across from Kai and Butterfly and backing onto The Tree, is, like Shooters nearby, a step or two above the average cheap Qingdao dive. The decor is simple - stone floors, wooden tables and chairs, a basic wooden bar, and walls plastered with colorful posters and prints. The layout consists of numerous rectangular rooms designed for a dozen or so patrons, with the bar squeezed into a space near the center. It’s a bit of a labyrinth and might be a decent stop for friends seeking a few drinks, though the excess of hard surfaces suggests it will be noisy. According to the a sign, a bottle of Grolsch will cost you 15 kuai.

China Doll was empty, not surprisingly given it was early on a Tuesday, so we headed to the main Sanlitun drag, though not before TCR noticed a broad banner above Tongli’s entrance reading: “Severely blow to the drug-related crimes.” I haven’t been harassed by a single drug dealer in this area for more than four months. Is a criminal element running rampant beneath my nose because I look too square for them to make a pitch? Or is it hidden amid all those underage drinkers that infest the area on weekends?

Anyway, we continued our walkabout and passed that new white building south of 3.3, which will house Project H (more on this to come), and headed north to Bocata. This place looks cozy from the street and doesn’t disappoint up close. The large sand-and-stone patio is partly protected by shrubs, modestly lit, and furnished with 18 tables that each seat two to four people. An elevated and fairly wide deck provides good views of the street while inside there are ten small tables. This place shares the same owner as Tapas, though this menu is focused on soups, salads and sandwiches. The drinks list features cocktails at 30 to 45 kuai, including tomato and vodka lemon at 42 kuai and honey, rum and vanilla at 45 kuai. Coffees are 18 to 28 kuai and the place offers a few German beers I’ve not before seen (sorry, I forgot to write down the names).

We next headed north to Dine and Wine. Along the way, we passed Cappuccino. I’ve been once and think my lack of patronage might be linked to an allergy induced by the profusion of neon and lighting on this place’s façade.

We made a quick stop to check out progress on Paddy O’Shea’s, the bar being opened by Glenn Phelan From outside, it looks airy, has high ceilings (I’d guess 12 footers), features an L-shaped bar that would be even nicer if a few stools were pulled up to it (and I was on one of them), and includes in its décor… hmmm… shamrocks. Well, I was excited up to that point.

By the way, Paddy’s is beside A-Che, where I have thrice dined and thrice regretted it. Luckily, this place isn’t in some U.S. states where three crimes of a certain type will see one tossed in jail for life (I’m not sure if sub-par food and service is one of them, but it should be under consideration). Mind you, I have had a few okay Mojitos there. Perhaps the secret is to stick to the liquids.

Anyway, our goal was W Dine and Wine, and we finally made it. We parked at the small bar (seats three) and checked the wine menu, which lists about 80 different bottles as well as, by the glass, three red and white (30 to 60 kuai) and a sparkling (65 kuai) wine. The place is long and narrow, with a subdued décor of modern white and black furniture and grey curtains. It falls on the right side of the line dividing elegant and pretentious, though it is a bit tame for my tastes.

TCR and I each ordered a glass of wine (the staff quickly changed his after giving him the wrong pour) and enjoyed the free eats - a selection of salami paired with un-pitted black and green olives, onions and peppers that carried a salsa and, according to TCR, refried bean flavors. Though perhaps not the best match for wine, these snacks were gratefully received, as was a second helping provided without our asking. Nice.

That’s the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it…

I checked out the third anniversary of Alfa’s eighties parties, held the Friday heading into vacation and it was… gnarly. Special K, who runs the brunch there every weekend as Alfa transforms into Café St. Laurent, made 800 Jell-O shots for the occasion. They were potent as only a drink concocted of three parts white Rum to two parts wiggly dessert would be.

The place was packed, a fun crowd, except for one guy, apparently working at Moet, who walked by our table, saw our Champagne bucket, picked up our bottle, saw it wasn’t from his firm, gave a disgusted look, put it down, and walked off. So fast I had no time to say, I love Moet! It’s the Budweiser of Champagnes!

Strangely enough, I’ve been to Alfa three times during the past month, but have yet to make it from the covered patio and into the bar.

In any case, I sat down with Alfa owner Blane the following Monday to ask him about a project known only as “H“. To sum up, he is taking over the top two floors of Nali studios, which will give him 500 meters of square space on one level - to be split between two restaurants and a club - and 500 meters of space on the roof. The latter should interest events organizers struggling to find decent downtown rooftop bars and restaurants that can hold more than 250 people.

Blane, who also runs several restaurants (including Muse) and has a discount card called Hedonist, aims to create what I can only describe as a “lifestyle empire.” I hope to post more about Project H as it comes along.

Finally, if you haven’t had the Café St. Laurent Asian Bloody Mary - with wasabi and soya sauce in the mix - it’s worth a try.

A meal in a glass