Scene in Hong Kong(1)
New in the 'hood ... Unar Coffee Company, Tai Hang. Photo: Leisa Tyler
Trend-spotter Leisa Tyler explores three overlooked districts attracting artists, architects and entrepreneurs.
Hong Kong has always been known for its high-octane commercial districts such as Central, Soho, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui. Sky-high rents are sending small businesses - and the spotlight - into a trio of grittier, lesser-known neighbourhoods. All are just a stone's throw from the city but with a more traditional and laid-back vibe.
Sheung Wan
A tiny shop in Sheung Wan. Photo: Leisa Tyler
Hong Kong's creative heart is heading west. Sheung Wan is only a 10-minute walk from Central along Hollywood Road, Hong Kong's unofficial antiques district, along a gravelly grid of steep lanes, past Chinese herbalists, coffin shops and impromptu bric-a-brac markets. The neighbourhood found new life a little more than two years ago when a crop of restaurants, galleries and nightlife spots started moving in.
"Sheung Wan used to be the sleepy vintage area," says Alan Po, the co-owner of the Press Room Group, which opened the Press Room restaurant here in 2006; the group has since become known for its knack in district reinvention. "People thought we were crazy opening a restaurant on the far side of Hollywood Road. But we liked Sheung Wan because it still had a sense of neighbourhood and was without prohibitive rental fees. It's like the 'anti' of shopping malls."
It's a Thursday afternoon and Po and I are having lunch at the Press Room (108 Hollywood Road; +852 25253444; thepressroom.com.hk), a tiled brasserie with French cottage chairs and a wall stacked with organic and biodynamic wines from artisanal and little-known producers in France. Every table is packed with diners grazing on French-inspired dishes: lobster benedict, steamed mussels Provencal, peppered-beef salad with watercress and parmesan, matched with a long list of wines by the glass.
Next door, the Press Group's Classified cafe (classifiedfoodshops.com.hk) is also full, with many lunchers spilling outside onto the footpath. It has a French cafe theme, with marble tabletops and hand-painted tile floors, and is best known for serving artisanal cheeses and hams that have been matured at the in-house affinage facility.
Sheung Wan's foodie buzz is coming from Yardbird (33-35 Bridges Street; +852 25479273; yardbirdrestaurant.com; dinner only), a no-reservations neck-to-feet chicken restaurant run by former Zuma chef Matt Abergel. The queues are long - be prepared to wait at least an hour - but the charcoal-cooked bird is flawless and goes down a treat with the diner's signature cocktails.
"When I first moved [to Sheung Wan] there was just traditional business," says Grace Ching, the owner of Loveramics (37 Tung Street; +852 29158018; www.loveramics.com), a boutique selling exquisite handcrafted crockery by Hong Kong designers.
