An air of affluence and simple sophistication for book release party
While always impressive, the Shanghai Tang Mansion was especially stunning on Thursday night, filled as it was with Hong Kong’s most fashionable people and taste-makers from the world of publishing and fashion.
The evening had an unmistakable air of affluence, perhaps due to the free- flowing Perrier- Jouet and the Bentley parked out front.
What was the occasion? Well there were two in fact, rolled into one glamorous evening out.
One was the first anniversary of Quintessentially Asia magazine and the second, a book release party for RSVP: Simple Sophistication. Effortless Entertaining, a coffee table book that teaches would- be Martha Stewarts the finer points of entertaining.
The author is Marie France Van Damme, of the women’s resort wear brand. She spent the evening surrounded by crowds of well- wishers and hangers- on but did take the time to share her favourite entertaining tip: “Not everybody knows how to cook. Most of us are not cooks. So you can go and get a fabulous takeaway and what I do is put it on fabulous plates.
“I say to eat with your eyes is the most important. I garnish it with beautiful herbs. Just make it look fabulous as if you’ve been cooking all day.”