It's uncertain times as bar owners and bartenders grapple with the knock-on effect from months of societal unrest followed by a deadly pandemic. Victoria Chow takes the temperature of an industry at risk
The phrase “You are so lucky,” is not what you would expect to hear on having had to close a bar you built and loved for five years, but it is what I have been repeatedly reassured lately. Unreasonable landlord stories are unfortunately not news for many in the F&B industry in Hong Kong, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to many tear-soaked nights and conversations with my team that the brick-and-mortar store part of our journey had to come to an end. But never did I think that it would be the biggest blessing in disguise.
On June 9, 2019, just over a week after The Woods closed its doors on Hollywood Road, the first of many anti-extradition bill protests began and thus started the free fall of the city’s nightlife sector. The social unrest led to more bar closures—no longer able to afford the exorbitant rents without a consistent flow of customers, waves of unemployment and more deep-seated problems than meet the eye rolled in. Like kicking someone while they are down, then came the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, in January 2020. Venues now not only have to grapple with paying rent and making payroll, but have to navigate new government regulations to ensure the safety of both their employees and customers. A feeling of survivors’ guilt brought me to offer complimentary photography services to cocktail bars and employees around the city, and gave me an opportunity to hear people’s stories both of the hardship, and the hope that keeps everyone going.
Last month, as I started my walk around the Central neighbourhood to visit my industry peers, I thought back on a time barely a year ago, to a cocktail industry celebrating a major upswing. Since 2014, we had grown from a city that subsisted on vodka sodas and bottle service champagne in clubs to one that had craft cocktails on every menu, multiple internationally acclaimed bars, and home to numerous industry trendsetters. “It’s like we went from the stone age of cocktails to the golden age of cocktails in the span of a few years,” says Gagan Gurung of Tell Camellia. “I always tell my friends the Hong Kong bar scene is like a Facebook feed you have to look at everyday lest you miss an update.”
This growth can be credited to some first movers in the industry such as Lily & Bloom (now closed) and Quinary, but it really happened in tandem with an increase in craft spirit importers to Hong Kong that challenged the status quo of big players such as Pernod Ricard and Moet Hennessy. Hong Kong consumers started to see the parallels between fine dining and artisanal cocktails. Most of us that started early learned the tricks of the trade as we went, with little local references and few overseas talents to show us the ropes.
