Latest news with #TheAubrey
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend June 6-8, from cocktails to ballet
The weekend is upon us and if you haven't had time to check out what's going on, don't stress – we have you covered. Hong Kong Ballet's new production of Giselle at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre is a must-see, while The Aubrey at the Mandarin Oriental is the place to be if cocktails are your thing. You can have a ball at a workshop on Lantau where you will learn how to make a Thai herbal compress or, if you're in need of retail therapy, Lane Crawford's Anya Life pop-up featuring playful products by British designer Anya Hindmarch should do the trick. Read on to find out more. 1. Best Bars Takeover at The Aubrey On Sunday, head to The Aubrey at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong for the ultimate celebration of cocktails. For one night only, bar manager Stefano Bussi has curated a line-up of Hong Kong's best and brightest mixologists from 11 top bars, who will each showcase two cocktails priced at HK$180 (US$23) each.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for June 6-8
It's June, so that means summer has officially arrived (no matter what the weather's currently doing). Kick off the new season with some of Hong Kong's best bars as they mix it up this weekend. 100 Top Tables-recognised institution C108 has just launched its new menu, refreshing certain classics with reinterpretations based on the lore that inspired them. Elsewhere in SoHo, Bar Leone is continuing to celebrate its second anniversary, this weekend with a special double-header guest shift. And closer to the harbour, The Aubrey is going all out by hosting 11 of Hong Kong's best bars in an extravaganza of local mixology excellence.
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for May 8-11
Hong Kong continues to get warmer as spring slowly changes to summer, so this is the weekend to check out The Daily Tot's summer menu, sans alcohol for that beach bod – or if you're looking for a cold one, Hong Kong Beer Co looks to launch an exceedingly hoppy double IPA at The Globe. Rounding out the weekend, The Aubrey plays host to Antidote from Seoul as they bring tasty Korean signatures to Hong Kong this weekend. Thursday, 8 May The Aubrey x Antidote Owner Joseph Lee of The Antidote in Seoul. Photo: Handout What: Start your weekend at The Aubrey as the Mandarin Oriental's Start your weekend at The Aubrey as the Mandarin Oriental's izakaya and cocktail concept hosts Seoul's Antidote. Owner Joseph Lee will bring several of his bar's signature-style cocktails to Hong Kong, inspired by Antidote's approach to spotlighting Korean ingredients. Expect tipples similar to the Omija, a gin and tonic with strawberry and the eponymous magnolia berry, or the Peach, which combines white rum, peach, sparkling wine and Bokbunja, a Korean black raspberry wine. Advertisement Where: The Aubrey, Mandarin Oriental, 5 Connaught Road, Central When: 6pm-10pm Friday, 9 May Sober Stars – The Daily Tot Zero ABV Summer Menu The Daily Tot x Crossip Zero ABV Summer Menu – The DryCaprio. Photo: Handout What: If health is your priority this summer, look no further than the Daily Tot's recently announced Zero ABV Summer Menu. Hong Kong's rum outpost partners with Crossip 0 per cent Spirit to serve four flavour-packed concoctions for a wide range of palates. The 'Guilt-Free' Gaga combines the Crossip Dandy Smoke, lemon, honey, candied ginger and egg white, whilst the 'DryCaprio' combines Crossip Fresh Citrus with non-alcoholic cane spirit, lime, banana and sorbet. Where: The Daily Tot, LG/F, Felicity Building, 58 Hollywood Rd, Central When: 5pm-2am Saturday, 10 May Hong Kong Beer Co's Double Double Launch
The Independent
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Inside the secret world of covert restaurant bookings where customers are ranked to get a table
Every evening, staff at The Aubrey in London 's Mandarin Oriental Hotel set two tables aside. 'We can draw curtains around them to cordon them off so that they offer more privacy,' says Romain Rousset, general manager at the acclaimed Japanese restaurant. The tables are reserved for celebrities who might want to pop in last minute. 'We mostly do it on weekends because we're so busy on Saturday nights,' Rousset adds. 'Some of them book themselves but they often do it under an alias. We're normally approached by agents or PAs. They will WhatsApp me directly so I can arrange tables for them.' Celebrities have always dined out at top restaurants. That much is not new. But thanks to social media and the power of a single paparazzi shot or Instagram post, the influence those celebrities can have on restaurant businesses has soared astronomically. Take Taylor Swift, who is photographed whenever she eats out, and particularly in New York, often resulting in worldwide headlines and a surge in bookings. It's no wonder, then, that restaurants have adapted their business models to accommodate famous people, and influencers who can nudge a restaurant into a 'destination' category even if that means regular (see: less important) diners can't ever get a table. Take Dorian, a celebrity hotspot where Dua Lipa recently dined with her boyfriend Callum Turner. With just 40 covers, the Notting Hill restaurant operates a covert bookings operation that sees potential diners being ranked. 'It's a tiered system whereby we rank how much we like the customer and the value of the customer, or the destructiveness of the customer. It's just like any sales business does,' said Chris D'Sylva, Dorian's owner, in an interview with the Daily Mail. In other words, if you're famous – and polite – chances are you're more likely to get a table. Elsewhere, there is talk of popular restaurants holding back tables for 'friends and family', aka celebrities and influencers who can request a table at the drop of a hat by simply dropping a message into a dedicated WhatsApp group – both The Dover and The French House have been said to operate such groups, though both restaurants denied doing so when approached by The Independent. 'We keep two seats each evening for any VIP or concierge bookings,' says Lucas Leong, co-founder of TAKU, a Michelin-starred Omakase restaurant in Mayfair that is regularly visited by celebrities. If they've been invited by the restaurant, they receive a free meal for two, including drinks. The same offering is given to influencers. 'Any celebrities or any VIPs who want to return after that receive a special number to WhatsApp us on to directly book and make requests,' adds Leong. 'Some celebrities are quite private and so we seat them with as much space possible on the day from others so they do not get disturbed during their meal.' Not everyone is quite so accommodating. In fact, some restaurants take the opposite approach altogether, insisting on a more egalitarian system. 'We don't treat celebrities any differently,' says Matthew Maynard, operations director at Gold, another celebrity-favoured spot in Notting Hill whose patrons have included Ed Sheeran, Sienna Miller and Princess Beatrice. 'People turn up all the time without a reservation and we end up having to turn them away because we're too busy,' he adds before referencing one occasion when a young woman who was new on reception told a household name they had no tables. 'I asked if she realised who she'd just turned away and she was flabbergasted. But she did the absolute right thing because we were full and, short of taking someone else's table, there was nothing we could do.' The Devonshire in Soho, which appears booked up for ever if you go on-line, operates a similar policy. 'I think because we're very busy all the time we get a lot of well-known people,' says landlord Oisín Rogers. 'None of them are treated differently. We always have a few tables available for walk-ins and sometimes the people who get those tables are well known.' Like many restaurateurs, Rogers relies on the discretion of his diners to maintain a private and comfortable atmosphere for all. Nigella Lawson, Lewis Capaldi, Joe Jonas and Bono have all been spotted. 'We actively discourage photography and we would be appalled if guests asked people in the public eye for selfies or any of that rubbish,' he says. Maynard agrees. 'We're not calling the paps or anything like that,' he says, explaining that generally guests are respectful of one another but there have been one or two occasions when someone has had to intervene when other diners have tried to get photos with celebrities. 'Occasionally the staff get a little starstruck, too, and need to take a breath but no one's ever lost their s**t,' he adds. 'It's quite sweet how some of them react sometimes.' The story is different for influencers. While not famous per se, at least not in the same way, they can have a major impact on businesses, too. But things have changed regarding how restaurants want to work with them. 'We have had people asking us to pay them £10,000 for one post but when you look at their page it all seems to be bought followers,' says Leong. 'We focus on organic followers. If someone has 100,000 followers and 30,000 likes, for example, that's someone we would rather work with as opposed to someone with a million followers and 3,000 likes.' They will also look at their page and see if their followers align with their target market. 'If someone has a page focusing on the cheapest eats in London, it is counter-intuitive to work with them as we are the polar opposite.' Chotto Matte, a popular Japanese restaurant in Soho, takes a similar approach, focusing on strong engagement, quality content and the right audience. 'If someone's style or following doesn't fit, or if their past collaborations don't reflect our values, we politely decline,' says founder Kurt Zdesar. 'The key is authenticity; we want genuine advocates, not just promotions.' However, many restaurants are now refusing to work with influencers altogether, simply seeing them as freeloaders. In February, D'Sylva dubbed them 'social scumbags' in an Instagram post featuring a screengrab of a request he'd received from an influencer asking 'to collaborate'. 'Kindly stop filling our DMs with unsolicited proposals for free food,' he wrote in a post on the Dorian Instagram account. 'You will automatically forfeit being able to come to the restaurant if you do.' There's no shortage of similar messages being sent to Gold. 'We get daily requests from influencers and always say no,' says Maynard. 'The better quality side of the restaurant industry is turning their back on that sort of thing now. It's hard enough running a restaurant as it is without giving away free meals to influencers. As for celebrities, well, they have enough money to spend.' Regardless of your strategy, relying too heavily on celebrities or influencers is likely going to end in disaster. Sure, the buzz of a famous diner, or someone with a very engaged social media following, may linger and result in an uptick in bookings. But Maynard believes it's only ever going to be a transient boost. 'I think The Dover is having a honeymoon period with that right now,' he says, noting how videos of Pedro Pascal dining at the Mayfair establishment recently went viral. 'Inevitably, you'll see a positive uptick from that. But these are all short-term things. Building a restaurant based on celebrities is not really a sustainable thing. It can't last.'
South China Morning Post
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for March 14-16
As the weather turns a corner, Hong Kong's bar scene is starting to emerge from its post-Lunar New Year hibernation. Taipei's Bar Without visits Hong Kong's The Opposites, while Mandarin Oriental celebrates art month with three art-inspired cocktails. Meanwhile, in our sister SAR, Wynn Palace overhauls Wing Lei Bar and brings Scottish mixologist Mark Lloyd to helm the concept – a perfect way to cap off any weekend trip to Macau. Thursday, March 13 Bar Without x Opposites The Opposites has partnered with Pedison Kao from Taipei's Bar Without. Photo: Handout What: The Opposites looks to ease you into the weekend courtesy of host Pedison Kao, brand director of Bar Without in Taipei, and partners Johnnie Walker, Don Julio, The Singleton and Tanqueray. Kao was the Taiwan bartending champion, placing in the top three globally in the Diageo World Class competition 2024. Bar Without offers contemporary, high-concept cocktails using ingredients such as kaoliang, tea, burnt miso, tobacco, shio koji, pineapple chips and more. Advertisement Where: The Opposites, LG/F, Hilltop Plaza, 49 Hollywood Road, Central When: 8pm-11pm Friday, March 14 Art Month sips at the Mandarin Oriental The Aubrey's Angry Girl, available throughout March to celebrate Hong Kong's art month. Photo: Handout What: With some of the year's biggest art fairs including Art Basel and Art Central just around the corner, the Mandarin Oriental is unveiling an array of dishes, menus and cocktails that dazzle in both style and flavour. The Aubrey is offering the Angry Girl Highball, which focuses on coffee-infused shochu, cacao and barley, and is based on the Angry Girl series of paintings by Yoshitomo Nara. The Chinnery's Self Portrait, available through March to celebrate Art Month. Photo: Handout Elsewhere in the MO, the Captain's Bar is serving The Comedian, which adds banana, marsala and coconut to the classic Negroni, inspired by the viral piece of the same name by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. At the Chinnery, the Self-Portrait pays tribute to – you guessed it – painter George Chinnery, in the form of a gin sour riff. Where: Mandarin Oriental, 5 Connaught Road Central, Central When: Advertisement The Aubrey, noon-9.30pm
