26 days into the new year and I have totally neglected my poor fish guts.  Here’s a brief recap of what’s been going on…

 

Happy new year from me and my new best friend Peter who lives in Shenzhen but is moving to HK at the end of Feb.

New Year’s Eve was spent on Doug’s roof where everyone dressed like Chief, Doug’s friend.  

A couple days later after the hangover of a 5am NYE had subsided we all reconvened at Noah’s (last picture far right) for some BBQ and a screening of The Capitalist.  If you haven’t seen it, download it.

First week after Christmas holiday means everyone’s back in town.  So what to do?  Tequila shots on a Tuesday.

Post shots and there were hats. El Gringo Loco with Kim & Andy. 

My friends have the cutest babies.  Here’s Liam and I exploring the best happy hour in HK- Posto Pubblico.  5-7 pm.  Free flow meatballs and wine for $98.  

Living in Stanley means weekly night hikes over the Twins.  This week Andy, Neil and I booked it over and learned that nothing in Stanley, except Pizza Express, serves food after 10 pm.  Pizza floor picnic with Tsing Tao and 2010 Joseph Roty to undo all of the good we did while hoofing it over the Peaks. 

Friday wines at Ginsberg+Chan.  Both were absolutely lovely and the Rioja was a big surprise as the cork was floating in the wine.  I suspect that happened as it was unpacked because it showed really well. 

I’ve learned more about Hong Kong in the past month than perhaps in my first couple of years here.  When you have a baby, like my colleague Terry just did, it is customary for grandma to spend weeks making this special sweet vinegar, meat, and ginger soup.  Delicious but incredible sweet. 

I love my oven.  Caroline, and later Shephali, came down for Sunday dinner. 

Bon Appetit’s chicken and harissa.  Incredibly easy and it fed me for a week. 

Andy very generously brought me and his colleagues out for dinner at Carbone which was amazing.  The beef carpaccio especially.  And this Sicilian wine.

Post Carbone drinks at the Cutty Sark….

Tasty whisky cocktail at Fox Glove, a new-ish speakeasy on Duddell Street.

 

Every other Saturday morning I spend doing mock MW tasting papers with Meiburg Wine media.  I was not so strong this go round, perhaps because of the 2 am finish the night before.  Or maybe I just need to be drinking more non-French wines.  Probably the latter.

Ginsberg+Chan Hospice de Beaune wine.  Really lovely but so young.

A whole lot of wines at Crown, including some interesting Bordeaux blends from Vancouver. 

Lots and lots of wines… So much for Dranuary, which I never deluded myself into thinking I could do.  I know myself better than that.

Our first #WednesdaySession of 2016 featured 6 wines- 2006, 1996, 1986.  

And to prove we don’t only drink French wines, here’s one from China recently tasted (and not enjoyed) at Ginsberg+Chan.  We have a sneaking suspicion that this was boiled and perhaps blended with some Argentinian wine.  It still didn’t help. 

Sunday Zuma brunch.  How have I not done this in the past 4.5 years?  All you can eat sashimi and seaweed salads, free flow wine and sake, and this for dessert.  Not to mention all of the beautiful people in toe…

Beer out of bowls at Tung Po.  Iella & I.

Canto dining at some of its best.  Tung Po, North Point Java Street wet market.

Which always results in a  dance party.  Itai, Amanda, Shephali, and Imanuel before we continued on our dive bar crawl of Racks, Honi Honi (not really a dive), and Tantra.

Trying to balance the brunches and dinners by exploring my new hood on foot.  Sunday am run through Tai Tam. 

Sunday smiles come in the form of a new bouquet every week 

Post “Other” Italy Ginsberg+Chan #WednesdaySession #2 at a seafood restaurant in Causeway Bay.  Awesome local eats with some delicious “orange,” more brown really, wine.

Happy birthday Neil dinner at My House with this amazing wine Neil brought back from Argentina.  So delicious!

Been baking every weekend and have learned I have a slight addiction to cornbread.  This lasted approximately 2 days.  Bon Appetit suggests 10 servings.  Yum.

Went into work this past Saturday to meet a customer for Champagne.  The 2004 Henri Giraud Argonne is one of my absolute favorite discoveries of 2015.  Working on the weekend is tough.

 

 

Champagne followed by more Champagne at Stephanie’s.  She’s moving to Hanoi next week which means weekends in Vietnam.  We’re going to miss you Nia!

Sunday cocktail catch up with Peter at Fishsteria followed by a really really delicious dinner with Andy, Peter, Nadia and Simon.  Highly recommend it and definitely get the risotto and catch of the day. 

The temperature dropped to a brisk 3 degrees.  And before all of you New Yorkers laugh, this really feels like -300 when you don’t have central heating.  Or insulation.  Or a winter jacket.   I threw my fuse out 3 times with my little (life saving) heaters.

And finally, an unexpected Monday night tasting of the wonderful wines of Mount Eden at the Wine Vault followed by my new favorite local Stanley haunt, Toby’s.  Lamb stew with fu yu, fermented tofu paste, which was explained to me as Chinese blue cheese.  How am I just learning about this?!  A new favorite resto and food…get better Monday.

 

There you are.  Caught up on the goings on of January.