Remember our adventure at the Chef’s Table at Bo Innovation in September? Well at the time I mentioned that restaurant was up for a Michelin star. Well this week the first Michelin Guide for Hong Kong came out and Bo didn’t get just one star, but two! This is an amazing honor for any restaurant and we couldn’t have been more pleased to find out that one of our favorite restaurants anywhere was recognized in this fashion.
I actually got on their website and sent them a little email, just telling them congratulations. A couple of days later I got a response, which included an invite to a cocktail party celebrating their new location AND their stars! I almost felt like we had received this invitation in error but I still gladly accepted.
I was kind of nervous about this. I’ve hardly ever been to a cocktail party, let along one where it wouldn’t be surprising to run into Hong Kong socialites and business tycoons! The invitations said “dress smart casual with a bit of spice”. Smart casual is the standard Hong Kong dress designation. It means “don’t look like a slob and you’ll probably be okay”. But what was “a bit of spice”? Hmmm…
So last night was the big night. I decided on jeans, heels and a sparkly top. Lee looked spiffy in a dark jacket and a red silk shirt. Off we went. My first worry was that they would look at their list and refuse to let us in! Maybe it really was a mistake…but no, we walked in, they asked our names and in we went! First off we went to a big board, signed our names and got our pictures taken. Will we end up in the society pages? Who the hell knows!
Next we plunged into the crowd. We shouldn’t have worried about what to wear in Hong Kong…like anywhere else, 90% of the people there were wearing business black. There were a few people dressed resplendently though, including one woman wearing what looked like a gold breastplate with an entire fox draped around her shoulder.
We found a good place to hang out and watch the proceedings. They handed us champagne, and kept our glasses full. The handed out cigars (Alvin Leung the “demon chef” is a big cigar smoker) and soon we were surrounded by wreaths of smoke. Normally I would be annoyed by this, but instead I just kept drinking my champagne. I was going to enjoy this experience no matter what! Lee even took a cigar, although he didn’t light it. I’m not sure what he plans to do with it, save it in a Ziploc bag?
We could see Bo’s awesome canapés going by, and occasionally we could grab one, but it was hard. Lee went over to the bar and got a very minty delicious mohito. I decided to see if I could get one too. I went to the bar and the bartender was making a very mysterious looking martini. First he poured liquid nitrogen in a martini glass and got it very cold. Then he put some milk tea in the martini glass. Finally he poured some crunchy things like dip-n-dots into the milk tea. I decided I had to have one. I’m not sure there was even any alcohol in it, but it was delicious!
Finally Alvin arrived in splendor, beaming and wearing a long black trench coat. He walked around greeting old friends and random guests like us. I said something about being happy for him and wanting to bring our kids there when they visit but it would cost too much so we’ll bring them for lunch (something really dumb right?) and Alvin said “call me when you come and I’ll make sure they have something special”. Gee!
The canapé trays were still drifting out of our reach and we were getting a little drunk. We needed some food or we would have to leave! We moved inside the restaurant (we had been out on the patio to avoid the worst of the smoke) and inched our way closer to the kitchen.
Ah HA! That’s what was going on! As the trays left the kitchen a little horde of foodies stood right there grabbing the canapés before they could make it very far into the crowd. We decided to do the same – yum! We ate little dumplings. We ate tiny sushi rolls made with crunchy rice paper, eggs, garlic and chilies. We ate a little pumpkin squares with lemony foam and a salty taste. We ate little almond cookies with a creamy filling. It was all fantastic, and free!
Finally we decided we’d had enough, party animals that we are. We went home, ate a little bit more to try to absorb some of the alcohol and fell into bed.
That was certainly an experience I would never have imagined I’d ever have. Now I’ve got to watch the society page in the South China Morning Post for the next couple of weeks and see if we show up!
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