Latest news with #Socio
South China Morning Post
01-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Drink in Focus: Oyster Shell at Socio
Where other concept menus often lead with esoteric ideas or atmospheres that contextualise their signatures, the front cover of Socio's new menu hits us with just facts: it introduces their community-driven bent, which focuses on reusing waste ingredients from other restaurants and bars in SoHo. Advertisement Upcycling spare/waste ingredients – usually by way of centrifuging, redistilling, using sous-vide or other means of processing – is not a new concept. The question is always whether a waste ingredient still yields enough flavour to produce a delicious drink. This is what we immediately wondered with Socio's Oyster Shell, which reuses about 4.4kg of oyster shells monthly from Caine Road fish eatery and market Hooked. The exterior of Socio at 17 Staunton Street, Central. Photo: Jocelyn Tam 'The shells don't have a lot of flavour,' says co-founder Amir Javaid, 'so we actually add vinegar to bump up the savoury and saline notes. We do a distillation to remove any of the shells and make it a cleaner spirit. You could just infuse the shells, but this is more hygienic.' The rest of the drink leverages those amplified saline and savoury notes. Taking inspiration from the porn star martini, the cocktail batches a mix of the oyster and vinegar – distilled in vodka – with Roku gin before fat-washing it in cocoa butter. The drink is completed with cardamom bitters, passion fruit and lemon juices, then topped with sparkling wine to serve. The result is an effervescent, refreshing reuse of what is usually associated with sea salt and brine. 'Just because we named the drink 'Oyster Shell', people expect a strong taste, but the idea is just that we're using ingredients and we build around them, so it's never going to be the main flavour,' Javaid explains. Advertisement It's taken time, but it's safe to say the group project approach to using oyster shells in drinks has been as successful as it is intriguing. You could start your evening with oysters at Hooked, then walk downhill to Socio to enjoy the rest of that dish in a drink. 'I used to go for fish and chips [at Hooked] and then I got to speaking to the owner,' says Javaid. 'At first he was a little unsure about why I wanted the oyster shells. As we developed the concept, it took some time to win people over.'
South China Morning Post
28-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Are zero-waste bars actually feasible?
For Amir Javaid , founder of Socio on Staunton Street, running out of stuff is kind of the whole point. Each cocktail on the bar's menu features waste products, or, more palatably, upcycled ingredients, from a nearby restaurant. There's Butter down the street, Hooked on Caine Road and Uncle Miguel on Peel Street. Advertisement Sustainability is a term often thrown around in haughty circles while Hong Kong bars like Socio have been implementing green practices with little fanfare all along. Javaid says he likes 'the idea of not being able to make a drink because there's not enough of something'. It's an idea that has seen Javaid build a community of F&B venues that, through his cocktails, reduce food waste in their neighbourhood. The furthest collection point is a five-minute walk, he says. Two months ago he launched an eight-drink menu, each tipple featuring an upcycled ingredient from a different SoHo establishment. Ezra Star, owner of Sheung Wan's Mostly Harmless. Photo: Mostly Harmless Ezra Star , owner of Sheung Wan's Mostly Harmless, thinks sustainability starts with community. 'A lot of times when people open bars, it affects the entire neighbourhood and puts smaller places out of business,' she says. Instead, she prefers to work with local businesses such as traditional Chinese medicine shops to source herbal ingredients for concoctions such as non-alcoholic versions of fernet and chartreuse. The bar also sources everything locally, as opposed to using imported products, thereby reducing their carbon footprint. Advertisement Mostly Harmless is testing the waters as Hong Kong's first bar to serve only mocktails , and Star leases the whole building, which enables the bar to develop most of its ingredients in-house. For many other Hong Kong bars, however, space is scarce.
The Hindu
27-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Internal reservation: Dalit right and left groups start awareness campaigns on choice of nomenclature
Karnataka has been having intense discussions on the population data of castes and sub-castes after the contents of the Socio, Economic and Educational Survey (caste census) report was accepted by the State Cabinet. Simultaneously, several developments are unfolding, though more quietly, around another survey to map Scheduled Castes (SCs) in the State and their socio, economic and education levels, set to get underway from May 5. In the run up to it, Dalit left and Dalit right groups are anxiously reaching out to their communities to ensure that their populations are enumerated accurately. The numbers are crucial as they are set to determine the internal reservation for the caste groups within the larger reservation matrix of 24% for SCs in Karnataka. Part of panel's work The caste census, conducted in 2015, has pegged the total SC population in Karnataka to be 1.09 crores or about 18.2% of the total population. The survey to identify SC households and their sub-castes is part of the work of the commission headed by retired Judge H.N. Nagmohan Das that has been asked by the Karnataka government to recommend internal reservation. 'We are urging all the castes and sub-castes in the larger Dalit right community to use the original name of their castes/sub castes during enumeration and not use nomenclatures of Adi Karnataka (AK), Adi Dravida (AD) or Adi Andhra (AA). Teams have been formed and awareness camps are being held in all districts across Karnataka,' said D. Chandrashekaraiah, an office bearer in Karnataka Chalavadi Mahasabha, representing the Dalit right group. Why the survey is being conducted The survey results will help H.N. Nagmohan Das Commission to secure empirical data and recommend internal reservation An attempt by BJP to provide internal reservation in 2022 based on recommendation of 2012 A.J. Sadashiva Commission had not fructified The Dalit left group accuse Dalit right group of cornering the reservation benefits. The Ddalit left group, based on figure arrived at by the 2012 A.J Sadashiva Commission report, claim their number to be higher than the Dalit right, which is contested. There is confusion about the usage of Adi Karnataka, Adi Dravida and Adi Andhra — pre-independence nomenclatures — coined to bring together group of castes. While Madras Presidency had notified Telugu speakers as AA and Tamil speakers under AD in 1922, the Mysore princely state had notified AK in 1925, bringing both Dalit right and Dalit left communities together. 'These nomenclatures are only used for grouping, and over years, both sides have come to use them randomly, resulting in confusion,' he added. While there are 101 Scheduled Castes in Karnataka, there has been confusion over the nomenclatures of AK, AD and AA classifications used by these groups. There are about 29 castes/sub-castes among Dalit right and 32 castes/sub-castes among Dalit left, both of which are labelled as 'untouchable' castes. The rest are either bracketed as 'Others' or those that are 'touchable' castes, including Lambani/ Banjara, Bhovi, Korma-Koracha and Beda Jangamas. The issue over slicing up of 24% reservation following the Supreme Court's order on internal reservation comes from the fact that both Dalit right and Dalit left community members have AK certificates, depending on the regions. Both communities are also found to be using nomenclatures of AA, AD and AK. Regionals variations If in Tumakuru, Ballari, Shivamogga, Davanagere, Chitradurga, KGF and Udupi, the Dalit right identify themselves as AD and Dalit left are identified as AK, in Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Kodagu, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Mandya, Ramanagar, Kolar, Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts, Dalit right are identified as AK while Dalit left is identified by the name Madiga. Those identifying themselves as AA are in Bengaluru Urban and Rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapur region. 'Handbills and stickers are being used to create awareness on how to list themselves. In Mumba- Karnataka region districts of Gadag, Haveri, Vijayapura and Bagalkote, besides parts of Kalburgi, people call themselves as 'Madar' which is serial number 21 in the notified list. However, we are asking all Dalit left communities to register themselves as 'Madiga', which is serial number 61 in SC list,' said Basavaraj Kowthal of Madiga Samudaya Jagruthi Andolana.
South China Morning Post
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Your perfect week: what to do in Hong Kong, March 16-22
Try this WestK FunFest More than 20 site-specific pop-up performances will take place at WestK FunFest. Photo: WestK FunFest Running over five weeks from March 21, West Kowloon's family-friendly festival will feature nearly 100 activities for kids and kids at heart alike, from interactive performances and theatre experiences to free programmes and workshops, all created by acclaimed artists and arts groups from around the world. Don't miss American artist duo Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley's live artist residency and experimental performance initiative Pollinator, exhibited in Asia for the first time. See the full schedule on their website Eat this Prince and the Peacock Prince and the Peacock has debuted its The Nawabs of Bengal menu. Photo: Prince and the Peacock Be spirited away to the palatial feasts of 18th century India with The Nawabs of Bengal seasonal menu at Prince and the Peacock. The menu, which runs until mid-April, takes inspiration from the spice-rich cuisine that arose in the Nawab courts, whetting the appetites of Mughal aristocrats and Bengali intellectuals, from the perfumed ghugni to the punchy morog pulao with bhapa chingri. Advertisement 2/F, Central Magistracy, Tai Kwun, 1 Arbuthnot Road, Central See this Guernica in Sand Guernica in Sand by Lee Mingwei. Photo: Dan Leung Taiwan-born American artist Lee Mingwei presents Guernica in Sand, a free installation at M+ recreating Pablo Picasso's 1937 anti-war masterpiece using, well, sand. Lee's work embodies impermanence, contrasting with Picasso's powerful statement – line in the sand, if you will – on the bombing of the city of Guernica during the Spanish civil war, and is on show until July 13. The installation runs alongside 'Picasso for Asia – A Conversation', an exhibition that invites reflection on chaos and transformation, but with no sand. The Studio, B2, M+, 38 Museum Drive, West Kowloon Cultural District Drink this Socio Corn Husk from Socio's new menu. Photo: Socio Sustainable cocktail bar Socio has unveiled a hyper-local menu focused on upcycling ingredients discarded by neighbouring businesses. The Avocado, for example, uses avocado by-products from Mexican taqueria Uncle Miguel in a gin and whisky-based tipple, while Oyster Shell reuses the titular ingredient from nearby seafood joint Hooked. 17 Staunton Street, Central
