Festivities following the First

Hong Kong might not be the best place to celebrate the Fourth of July, American Independence Day – it is, after all, the ‘City Without Baseball’ as that eponymous movie has claimed, and baseball is America’s favourite pastime. Still, opportunities abound to enjoy some Yankee fun, from do-it-yourself barbecueing to chowing down on fried chicken and baked potatoes.

We suggest starting off with a daytime beach barbecue – even if
you aren’t a member of the American Club (28 Tai Tam Road, Tai Tam, 2842 7400), which is hosting a special members-only grilling event. If the weather holds, head down to the Plover Cove Reservoir in the northeastern New Territories, where you can take advantage of the public barbecue pits, beach area, and cycling grounds at Tai Mei Tuk. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department says you’ll have to travel to the country parks to roast your meats in plain air – there aren’t pits in city parks, and cooking outside at those locales are illegal.
For the less adventurous, California (G/F, 30-32 D’Aguilar Street, Central, 2521 1345) will reprise its annual feast and offer an in-house barbecue set dinner, chock full of down-home comfort food, for $398. To start, the ticket price will buy hungry Yanks roasted yellow squash soup with parmesan foam, grilled scallops and sole fillet wrapped in pancetta with lemon and dill salad or grilled smoked turkey breast wrapped in bacon and vegetables with rosemary and red wine dressing. The main course is a choice of either barbecued pork ribs or southern-fried spring chicken served with grilled tomato, sweet corn, coleslaw, and jacket potato, and dessert is apple crumble with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate and vanilla sauce. The set also includes a tangy green apple and watermelon martini and choice of tea or coffee. To top it off, the California house band will serenade diners from 10pm - 2am. Yankee Doodle Dandy, anyone?

Vivre la France! Ecrasez l’infame! Prête à manger! Commemorate the French Revolution with a couple of Bastille Day specials for the month of July. For the seafood addict, La Brasserie (L/F, Gateway, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2113 7925) offers a six-course Lobster Highlights set dinner prepared by executive chef Didier Rochat (remember the Michelin-starred French restaurant chef we mentioned last month?) every evening in July. Starting with a lobster carpaccio salad prepared with olive oil, lemon juice, and tomato basil, guests work their way through the flambéed creamy lobster bisque with cognac and porcini ravioli. The three main courses include lobster claw and sage in beer batter and aioli sauce served with vegetable salad; lobster soufflé with mashed potato and lobster meat in sea urchin cream sauce; and a half lobster tail stuffed with asparagus, black truffle, vegetables and gratin with emmental cheese. Finally, an a la carte dessert selection will let you eat cake. The entire meal runs to $788 per person.

Over at SPOON by Alain Ducasse (InterContinental Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, 2313 2323), nothing says revolution like sex. Throughout July, diners have the choice between the six-course Sexy Menu or the eight-course – hey, we’re just reporting what it’s called! – Very Sexy Menu. The eight-part option ($988 plus a 10% gratuity per person) begins with eggs meurette-style and moves on to terrine of foie gras and chutney of grapes, vanilla, Sichuan pepper and arugula; watercress soup with roasted frog legs; granite of pastis; Chilean sea bass ‘riche’ style, black truffle, and crayfish; a duo of braised charolais beef cheek vol au vent ‘a la Bourguignonne’ and tenderloin Bordelaise style with marrow and Pont 9 potatoes; an apple cup tatin style; and a Paris-Brest praliné and chocolate. The six-course menu ($788 plus a 10% gratuity per person) includes eggs, foie gras, soup pastis, sea bass or beef, and a dessert. Coffee and tea are served with both menus, and a wine paring selection (three glasses) including French white Burgundy and red Bordeaux is available for $688 per person.

The Restaurant of Summer
Hot, busy Hong Kong is a far cry from the vast, largely empty expanse of Canada, but at Canucck (31 Elgin, SoHo, 2524 4123) the newly opened red-and-white Canadian eatery tucked next to Peel Street, dishes such as mixed grill, venison, and steak put one in mind of the wide open spaces of Ontario and Manitoba. Torontonian chef Derrek Furlani serves traditional Canadian fare – think game, fish, bread, spinach, apple – but adds an haute touch to the heaps of savoury meat-and-potatoes. Canucck actually imports their ingredients from the motherland – the lobster in the starter salad, for instance, was flown in from Prince Edward Island, the halibut in an entrée came from Vancouver. Highlighted dinner dishes include a 10-ounce imported Canadian rib eye steak ($298), Niagara river-region rabbit braised in red wine ($168), grilled halibut steak finished with blueberry butter sauce ($198). Starters include imported lobster salad ($98) and skewered venison meat brochette ($85). In true polite Canadian fashion, Furlani even makes birthday pastries if you call ahead, and on Saturdays and Sundays brunch comes with a $48 bottomless mimosa.
Check out Canucck on June 30, when you’re encouraged to stop by wearing your red-and-white cowboy hats and bandanas for Canada Day drink specials. Try the Bloody Caesar ($50), Canada’s favorite cocktail, a concoction made of vodka, Clamato juice, horseradish and fresh celery, or the dry and fruity Bob Izumi White wine ($110 per glass and $568 per bottle).

OVO’s month-old Chinese restaurant, also known as OVO (66 Johnston Road, Wanchai 2527 6088), fuses modern flavours and design with classic Chinese dishes. On the ground floor of a 120-year-old building, OVO allows its guests to feast their eyes on the structure’s tall brick archways (accentuated by dim red and white lanterns), the refurbished chairs of the Ming and Qing dynasties (on which they actually sit to eat), and the antique safe, staircase, and signage found what used to be a pawn shop (preserved in conjunction with the Urban Renewal Authority). Specialty main courses include the sweet and sour pork with dry fruits and sweetened aged vinegar ($118), deep-fried prawns with pineapple in wasimayo ($158), and the boneless soaked chicken in ‘hua dia’ wine ($98). Lighter appetites should try the unique finds in the dim sum menu: jade dumplings with shrimp, crab roe, and veggies ($38), which actually imitate the glow of green jade from a dumpling skin made with spinach; extra-long shrimp and peach spring roll ($42), an almost-half-metre long spring roll cut up to serve multiple people; and the superior shaomai with abalone ($42). For a cool dessert, try the rose jelly with honey ($28), made with American ginseng, an unusual ingredient for sweets.

The airport’s new 360-degree seafood bar at Caviar House & Prunier (airside, 6E188, Terminal 1, HK International Airport, Lantau, 3171 1969) gives hungry globetrotters an entirely new way to go full-circle. With establishments primarily in Europe, this caviar and salmon specialty eatery and shop opened its first Hong Kong branch in late March. All the smoked salmon originates from the Balik Smokery in the Swiss Alps; on the caviar side, diners can chose between the low-sodium Saint James variety ($1,450 for 30 gm, $5,200 for 125gm), which the restaurant suggests be served with white wine, or the salty Malossol caviar ($1,100 for 30gm) that goes best with vodka or champagne. Though traditional customers may prefer to eat their caviar with egg whites, chopped onions, sour cream, or toasted bread, adventurers can try the ‘vodka and caviar shot’ ($280), served with a shooter of French Diamant with a spoonful of caviar on top, or the ‘caviar and champagne’ shot ($330) with Caviar House champagne. The name of the shot signifies the sequence of consumption; the vodka shooter is taken before the caviar, and the champagne is taken after the caviar. For more filling dishes, the three most popular orders are shrimp cocktail ($160); king crab Kamchatka, made with Alaskan crab legs ($255); and the seafood platter ($298), replete with a selection of smoked salmon, gravadlax, prawns, salmon tartar, and king crab.

If extravagant airport dining’s got you down, head over to MUJI to GO in Terminal One (airside, 6V511 and 6V512, Terminal 1, HK International Airport, Lantau, 2261 0711) where the snack aisle screams simplicity in design. Here, flyers can pick up ready-to-eat packages of dried fruits and vegetables, candies, chocolates, Japanese rice crackers, cookies, and whole-wheat mini-cakes. Popular snacks include strawberry and lemon flavoured marshmallows ($8), doll-shaped sponge cakes ($12), mini bean jam pancakes ($15), apple chips ($29), and fried mix vegetables ($12). For weight watchers, Muji also offers a line of 100kCal snack packages. Drinks ranging from $8 to $11 include organic tea, milk tea, vitamin water, and fruit juice. Though Muji snacks have been around since the store opened in late March, a DIY series of pizza ingredients began in June. This series includes seasonings and pizza mix (an $18 pack makes three 15cm pizzas) that can be prepared with water and a frying pan. Another line of minimal-preparation food is the freeze-dried soup ($8), cubes of soup solids that need only be mixed with hot water to morph into liquid soup. Varieties include soymilk skin and dried radish, seaweed miso, Chinese cabbage and shrimp, kimchi, and minestrone.