Hong Kong: east Meets West
Explore a little of Hong Kong’s History and art, along with its culinary delights
M+ Pavilion
M+ Pavilion is the precursor to Hong Kong’s M+, the Herzog & de Meuron-designed museum for visual culture due to open in 2019. But M+ Pavilion is a worthy sight in its own right. Designed by Vpang Architects with Jet Architecture and Lisa Cheung, its cantilevered outdoor terrace appears to float, and its reflective external walls allow it to blend in with the green landscape around it, making for a striking destination. The sky-lit, polished concrete interior space makes this a great place to contemplate art in calm, quiet surroundings. westkowloon.hk
Red Sugar
One of Hong Kong’s hottest new bars, thanks to its spacious terrace, Red Sugar sits over the water in Hung Hom, offering 270-degree harbour views. André Fu brings his contemporary yet timeless style to Red Sugar’s design and landscaping, creating a chic space for visitors to sip on oak-barrel-aged cocktails, craft beers, and fine wines.
Fu’s thoughtful sensibility applies indoors as well as out. The bar’s brickwork, metal elements, and embroidered detailing on leather-upholstered seats recall Hung Hom’s history as a base of industry and dockyards from the 19th century, and its role as the southern terminus for the Kowlooncanton Railway from 1974.
Red Sugar is located inside the new Kerry Hotel. Fu was responsible for the interiors of the whole hotel, while Rocco Design Architects designed the building itself. shangri-la.com/hongkong/kerry
asia Society Hong Kong centre (ASHK)
ASHK presents an opportunity to peek into Hong Kong’s history, while also being a fine example of contemporary design. The Admiralty site was home to military buildings in the 19th century, built by the British Army for the making and storage of explosives and ammunition. Several of the original buildings still stand, and they have been restored and now connect via an angular bridge to ASHK’S low-lying exhibition and event space, a simple, modern structure clad in veined green stone designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects.
Make a side trip to Ammo while you’re at it: this steampunk-inspired restaurant, on site at ASHK, was architect Joyce Wang’s first restaurant project in Hong Kong and its copper-cool, fanned feature wall is bound to impress. asiasociety.org
tom dixon x nodi
Drink artisanal coffee by Nodi out of polishedsteel and double-walled glass cups by Tom Dixon at this beautiful new concept cafe in the new Tom Dixon flagship store at 52 Hollywood Road. The concrete and charred timber-clad space houses the brand’s furniture, lighting, and home accessories collections in a cosy cavern on the ground floor, while the cafe sits on the light-filled first floor.
At the cafe, visitors get to experience Tom Dixon’s products first-hand. The curves and angles of the stunning Plane chandelier hang
over coffee and tea drinkers as they lounge in Dixon-designed chairs and sit at Dixon-designed tables. A grey marble wall and stunning brass bar complete the look, making this the perfect place to enjoy good coffee and good design at the same time. tomdixon.net
gough’s on gough
Timothy Oulton has taken its signature style— vintage mixed with a dash of whimsy—and branched into the F&B sector, beginning with the restaurant Gough’s on Gough, which is next to their store on Gough Street.
All the elements of the Timothy Oulton brand can be found in the restaurant, beginning with a column-shaped aquarium at the entrance that is filled with piranhas and Derek the Diver, a deepsea diver clad in a 1940s-vintage helmet. A spiral staircase connects the two floors of the restaurant. The main dining area on the second floor features a black-and-white floor of marble tiles, a feathercovered wall, and an impressive bar made from Italian moonstone inlaid with a herringbone pattern of baguette-shaped glass.
Leather is Timothy Oulton’s forte and some of the seating—the restaurant seats 50—is provided by tufted leather banquettes dyed to a rich chocolate brown, recalling the brand’s much-loved sofas and armchairs. goughsongough.com
the old Man
If you’re a fan of Ernest Hemingway, then Aberdeen Street drinking hole The Old Man is the one for you. Inspired by Hemingway’s The Old
Man and the Sea, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1953, the bar combines the talents of three of Hong Kong’s finest mixologists: Agung Prabowo, James Tamang, and Roman Ghale.
The menu features innovative cocktails named after Hemingway’s other classics—such as the
Green Hills of Africa, with rosemary-infused pisco, turmeric and tamarind cordial, and citrus juices, or The Snows of Kilimanjaro, with marshmallowinfused gin, “lacto-fermented” raspberry, citrus juices, and gruyere. The bar’s muse is also apparent in the decor, with a portrait of Hemingway looking down from dark panelled walls onto all the cocktail-sipping clientele ensconced in gorgeous forest green upholstery.
theoldmanhk.com