The new and healthier Harlan

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It's the last Friday before Lunar New Year, and I decided to take the team out for lunch.  Our little fund launched just about a year ago, and it seemed like an appropriate time to gather the troops and thank everyone for their hard work.  I asked the guys to pick a place, and was a little surprised when the reservation was made at Gold by Harlan Goldstein... instead of Tsui Wah (翠華).  I guess this was their way of telling me that they wanted to be fed good stuff!

We got there pretty early, and I spotted a somewhat familiar figure in the distance.  Of course it was Harlan, but the newer, slimmer version.  We had both been on separate slim-down programs, and I had missed the chance to attend the charity dinner last year celebrating his win in Summer Slim Slam.  So this was the first time we had seen each other in months.  I went up to say hello and was greeted with a bear hug.

We needed to get out quickly as the stock market only had a 1-hour lunch break, so we went for the set lunch.  I went and grabbed some raw veggies, salumi and marinated mixed veggies to start.

"Melt in your mouth" Scottish salmon, seafood bisque orzo, chorizo, squids and black ink aioli - I initially wanted some pasta, but Harlan highly recommended this salmon and I figured he's never done me no wrong.  So the whole team went for this lighter and healthier option.

And sure enough, this was melt-in-your-month as Harlan promised.  The salmon was lightly poached - or was it cooked "sous vide"? - and was incredibly tender.  The orzo in seafood bisque was very yummy, and I've always loved the texture of orzo as it yielded a little to the pressure from my teeth.  The chorizo added some kick to the flavors, and that black ink aioli...  Yum.

The coffee gelato was very yummy, and I loved the crunch that was sprinkled on top.  I decided to only finish half, as I probably didn't need the full hit of calories... and I'd just had my second espresso of the day and didn't need more caffeine.  I was actually tempted to pour my espresso on top of the coffee gelato... but that would have been a little too much!

This was a pretty good hit-and-run lunch.  I'd been missing Harlan's food while I was on my diet, and I guess I need to come back and get my fix...

Oompa Lupa

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Drew pinged me early in the morning, letting me know that he's in town again.  Normally he hangs out with the head honcho of an auction house whenever he's around, and I've failed to catch him the last few times he has been in Hong Kong.  But this time around his buddy ditched him and went to drink wine with some local tycoons instead, so I happily stepped up as the backup option.  Drew and I used to work together two decades ago - during the last century - and it was good to catch up after a long time.

Since it only popped up this morning and Drew claims he no longer knows Hong Kong, not surprisingly I had a tough time figuring out where to go on a Thursday night.  I called a couple of places I wanted to check out, and in the end settled on Lupa despite their strange corkage policy.

I had never been to Lupa despite it being a high-profile Batali outlet.  The place opened during my absence from Hong Kong, and even when I moved back I had little desire to go.  Every single friend whose palate I trust panned this place.  I'm also pretty ambivalent about Batali's local partners, since they opened lots of mediocre restaurants that don't exactly excite me.  And the general feedback was "Carnevino is better than Lupa".  'Nuff said.

But hey, Lupa's a pretty big place and I doubt they were gonna fill up all 200 seats.  Sure enough, I was told that walk-ins would be OK when I called them.  So I walked over with some trepidation...

The most expensive whisky in the world

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The wine auction circuit started again today, with 3 auction houses holding simultaneous auctions in Hong Kong.  These days I've stopped going to the Acker and Zachys auctions, and I dutifully showed up at Sotheby's bright and early.  I was pretty surprised to find the room very full at just a quarter past 10 a.m., as I had expected the other auctions to be busier.

The auction started with some "leftover" lots from some of the auctions last year... especially those which were ex-château.  The largest consignor today offered a good collection of 1982 Bordeaux... notable for both its breadth and depth.  It seemed that any '82s - even those from Fifth Growth or unclassified châteaux - found ready buyers.  Quite a few wines had parcels of 10 cases or more.  And there were plenty of other older vintages on offer, and all of them were snapped up.

But the highlight of the day was one special lot - the Macallan M Decanter - Constantine.  The whisky is a blend of "a handful of casks dating from the 1940s to the early 1990s", which is kinda vague as far as descriptions go.  The selling point here is that it is housed in a 6-liter imperial decanter created by Lalique, and is one of only four in the world.  All four are apparently named after Roman Emperors - with Caesar, Justinian and Augustus being the other three.

This was a charity lot, with 100% of the hammer price going to local charities in Hong Kong.  Sotheby's is also donating part of the buyer's premium to the same charities.

With no reserve and an estimate indicated at between HKD 2 to 4 million dollars, the eyes of the world were on this lot.  Shortly before the action started, I noticed a few of my friends popping in from the auction next door.  Then I noticed Jeff Zacharia from Zachys was standing by the entrance as he, too, wanted to witness the bidding for this lot.

A few weeks ago the Specialist was fretting about whether people would actually bid for this lot.  Sure it's pretty rare, but it was also gonna be one incrediby expensive bottle.  The pressure was on.

But she need not have worried.  Absentee bids meant the bidding actually started at HKD 2 million, and the action turned out to be between two guys in the room.  As the auctioneer, Bob gave each bidder ample time to decide whether or not to go to the next increment, as each increment was a whopping USD 25,000 equivalent.  Eventually the hammer fell at HKD 4 million, which made the total purchase price HKD 4.9 million inclusive of buyer's premium.  That's more than USD 628,000, and set a new world record for a single bottle of whisky.

The rest of the auction went without incident, and I ended up picking up several cases of aged Burgundy for my friends and I.  A few of the MNSC boys realized at the tasting yesterday that I would be here today, and asked me to bid on a few lots on their behalf...  Auction duty today...

This time there were a larger number of wines served at auction:

2004 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin - yeasty, a little toasty, with lemon citrus.

1982 Pichon Baron en double magnum - smoky, earthy, lead pencil and some fruit.

1982 Pichon Lalande - very lovely.  Smoky, earthy with tea leaves, cedar and woody notes.

1982 Vieux Château Certan - savory, soy sauce, smooth and velvety on the palate.  Very nice.

1986 Climens - lots of plastic, honey, dates, orange blossom water, apricot on the nose.  Sweet but slightly bitter finish.  Beautiful.

1981 Beaucastel - very smoky, burnt rubber, manure, brett.

2000 Beaucastel - minty, forest, berries, jammy, with a hint of sharpness.  Good concentration and there are still tannins here.

2005 Clos des Papes - really sweet and jammy, with lots of forest, pine needle and cedar.  Syrupy.  Opened up nicely.

After the auction, I attended a birthday celebration dinner of a friend at the Hong Kong Club.  The birthday girl was kind enough to serve us something from her vintage.  Not quite the Macallan M perhaps, but very small nonetheless.

1974 The Clan Denny Cameronbridge 38 Year Old - initially this was like paint thinner, but also heavy with sweet vanilla, some marmalade and a hint of smokiness.

Disney with Bear

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More than eight years after opening, I still hadn't been to Hong Kong Disneyland.  I never felt to urge to fight with the Mainland Chinese crowds that I was bound to be surrounded by, and my last visit to a Disney theme park was back in 2001 at Tokyo DisneySea - where I stood in line for hours just to get on a ride for a few minutes.

But I have a godson now, and he's a HUGE fan of Mickey Mouse.  So on a car ride back to his house last December, I told the little fella that I'd go to Disneyland with him to see Mickey.  To which he replied: "ARE YOU OK?!"

I was left speechless while his mama laughed her ass off.

Today I made good on that promise, taking a day off from work so we can go on a "weekday".  Tigger had a meeting in town, so we didn't get under way until a couple of hours later than initially planned.  We did manage to get their before noon, though...

More Peking duck

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My second and last night in Beijing on this trip, and once again my friendly neighborhood prime broker arranged a dinner with Peking duck.  We were shipped off in batches to Duck de Chine (全鸭季) - the Peking duck restaurant within the complex known as 1949 - The Hidden City.  The complex was formerly a factory and research facility set up in 1949, and this was converted into an F&B complex.  The historical feel of the place was maintained, and looked a little out of place in the sea of tall, concrete-and-glass buildings surrounding it.

The menu, of course, was preset... so I waited for the onslaught of dishes.