Celebrity Life

Looking at the restaurants listed as World's 50 Best this year, some new (and old) trends might be just over the horizon.

The post What the future of fine dining looks like appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

From renowned environmentalist venture Green Monday, Green Common is unveiling a brand new 2-storey flagship eatery and marketplace on Wednesday, October 6 2021 – Green Common Nexxus.

An update on and expansion of its plant-based concept stores scattered around Hong Kong, Green Common Nexxus is a four-in-one vegan eatery and marketplace with gourmet dine-in, a coffee and drinks bar, a grab-and-go section and a mini grocery mart.

The flagship comes with a fresh new revamp featuring a soothing teal-mint "Aqua" and white palette that's present throughout the two floors' interiors, packaging and merchandise.

As you enter, you're greeted by the dairy-free coffee and drinks bar where oat milk is the default option – courtesy of UK milk-alternative brand Minor Figures – where you can choose from locally roasted coffees (including dark roasted and full-bodied blends) and superfood smoothies (new breakfast specials include an avocado green tea flaxseed and beetroot banana). Also present on the ground floor is a vegan bakery and a section with healthy meals-to-go made daily in-house.

The expansion of its grocery sees sections dedicated to vegan products for those with food restrictions, like the keto diet or a gluten intolerance, as well as freezers and fridges stocked with familiar ready-made frozen meals and every plant-based product you'll ever want from well-known brands like OmniFoods, JUST Egg, Heura, Beyond Meat and more.

Walk a few stairs up to the restaurant on the first floor serving up completely vegan Asian fusion dishes. Some sumptuous highlights include the Lolli-OmniPork, a crispy plant-based meatball glazed in a sweet and sour sauce on a stick, a reimagined "beef" wellington with OmniPork Luncheon, mushroom and truffle sauce wrapped in roasted vegan pastry sheets, and the ochazuke made with OmniCrab and tororo kombu served with roasted brown rice genmaicha tea.

And as animal products are often incorporated in the making of alcohol (such as egg whites or gelatine as fining agents in winemaking), Green Common Nexxus has sourced vegan-certified wines and sakes from all over the world – available to enjoy at the restaurant in November.

Green Common Nexxus opens on Wednesday, October 6 2021.

Green Common Nexxus, Shop G01 & 101, Nexxus Building, 77 Des Voeux Road, Central; +852 2727 6682

The post Green Common Opens Brand New Two-Storey Flagship in Central appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

There are now over a dozen vegan sake breweries certified in Japan — and that number is growing.

In an industry that’s more or less a thousand years old, and likely more ancient than that, it’s only in the last hundred years or so that significant innovations have taken hold within the sake world.

The latest development? More and more brewers have been switching on the green light for vegan sake. For a trade that takes pride in its highly traditional methods and multigenerational management — in many cases crafting their sake beneath centuries old wooden brewery structures — this feels like something really quite progressive. 

But wait, surely all sake is vegan... right? 

Wrong. For the most part, paper micro-filters and charcoal are used during filtration in a process call roka (ろ過) to remove unwanted tinges of colour. However, in some cases, animal-based fining agents are employed in much the same way as they are in the wine industry to adjust the tiny impurities. 

Outside of this, the recipe for brewing sake, or seishu (清酒) to give its legal name in Japanese, is, on the face of it, pretty simple requiring steamed rice, koji and naturally occurring water sourced from underground reserves, snowmelt or streams. 

Koji itself is totally natural, created by propagating koji mold spores onto more of that steamed rice. As Sake Portal notes, premium sake does not contain any additives or preservatives like sulfites, making it one of the cleanest beverage choices in the market. It doesn’t get much purer than that. 

So although this diminutive ingredient list by and large naturally categorises sake as inherently vegan, forward-thinking brewers and organisations have latched onto the need for full customer transparency and have taken things to the logical next step to eliminate any uncertainty.

Certifications are now being granted, where deserved, by NPO VegeProject Japan, a non-profit organisation that is working hard to increase the choices for vegetarians and vegans alike. There are now over a dozen sake breweries certified in Japan — and that number is growing. 

With domestic sales and active brewery numbers continuing to decline, Japanese producers are looking more and more to international sales and market entries. Using vegan certification as a tool to highlight their portfolio as all-natural, these savvy brewers are becoming the global ambassadors for the purity of sake and meeting the demand for a vegan choice in the West. 

For myriad reasons, more and more people are taking the decision to follow a vegan lifestyle. In the UK, a leading vegan market, the numbers have quadrupled from 2014 to 2019. Therefore it comes as no surprise to read that Dojima Sake Brewery, one of only a handful of British sake producers, is now on the country’s Vegan Society certified list, along with four recognised Japanese breweries.

Nanbu Bijin Brewery’s passionate president, Mr Kosuke Kuji, led the successful bid to acquire the very first vegan certification for Sake, both domestically and internationally from Japan’s NPO VegeProject and the UK’s Vegan Society in January 2019. This has played a significant role in securing a buoyant export business across nearly forty markets. 

Also armed with Kosher certification from 2013, Kuji-san is committed to bringing sake to as broad an audience as possible: “It is no exaggeration to say that Japanese sake is the safest and purest alcohol in the world,” his press release reveals. The brewery’s motto is to “Brew sake that makes people smile like bright sunshine,” and it surely does. 

Further south in the middle of Japan’s Honshu Island, Nagai Sake Brewery in Gunma Prefecture would swiftly follow Nanbu Bijin with initially four accredited vegan sakes. The stunning Mizubasho Artist Series was quickly added to this tally and includes a sparkling sake, a still sake and a dessert sake, all designed to pair with a range of global cuisines and dining occasions. 

But there’s a lot more to the wellness story of sake than just this recent vegan impetus. 

Continuing on a less-is-more path, as a rice-based drink, sake is naturally gluten-free which makes it a great option for people who are sensitive to or allergic to the grain protein. Just be sure to avoid that beer chaser. 

Although stopping short of directly advocating sake as a natural medicine, industry sources are plentiful in their probiotic messaging (sake contains lactic acid which assists food digestion). Stats about peptide levels that can ultimately prevent or reduce the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and high blood pressure are plentiful, as is the wide embrace of sake in beauty elixirs. 

Koji’s innate molecular framework also goes a long way to inhibit the activity of melanin, the main culprit of sunspots, age spots, and freckles. There’s a reason why cosmetics producers use sake and sake kasu (the “lees” by-product of the industry) in the face masks and hand lotions that line the shelves of so many Japanese department stores and pharmacies. 

Rie Yoshitake is a Sake Samurai, part of a small community of individuals recognised by The Japan Sake Brewers Association Junior Council for their love and promotion of Japanese sake around the world. She is also a keen advocate of sake's relationship with skin health: 

“Some people have noticed that their skin seems more moisturized after drinking Sake. In Japan, sake is used in facial toner, and some even like to pour their leftover sake into the bath for a luxury bathing experience," she notes on Sake Samurai UK. 

Better still, perhaps, for those of us who like to indulge a little over the weekend, an article by SAKE TIMES, a Japan-based dual-language publication dedicated to sake, reports that the calorific content of the liquid is not that high. 

Unit-for-unit, you’ll consume just over half the sugar levels compared to beer, and in the neighbourhood of 20% fewer calories. Trouble is, the addictive snacks you’ll be enjoying with your sake might well balance things out, so if that's a concern, reach for the edamame rather than the reassuring crunch of good chicken karaage late on a Friday night. 

The constant improvements in modern medicine and healthcare are a wonder to behold, but it feels like there is some warm comfort to be taken from the epic history of sake brewing. The purity of the process and natural wisdoms that have been passed down through the generations, largely unaffected by external forces, offer tangible wellbeing benefits. 

And for once, taking your medicine never tasted so good. 

A certified Sake Sommelier, Will Jarvis is the owner and founder of Sake Matters, consulting for a variety of clients in Hong Kong and internationally. Will has spent over 20 years working in the food and beverage industry in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, is a trained chef and holds a diploma in hospitality. For more information please visit www.sakematters.com.

The post Vegan Sake: It’s Real, and it’s Spectacular appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The cosmetics industry is gradually going green with organic, zero-waste, biodegradable and even compostable products, each more innovative than the next. After mascaras, eyeliners and other sustainable makeup essentials, makeup tools too are embracing the green revolution with its first vegan and biodegradable beauty blender.

[caption id="attachment_5047653" align="alignnone" width="806"] Image Credit: EcoTools[/caption]

Towards more natural materials

Bathrooms of the future will have less waste, more natural materials and fewer ingredients that are harmful to skin (and health). The cosmetics industry, like many other sectors, is undergoing a revolution to meet new consumer demands. This includes developing the kind of personal care products, cosmetics and makeup essentials that we're not used to finding in the beauty departments of our favorite stores.

In recent months, this has given rise to a zero-waste mascara with refills for life, an eyeliner that transforms into flowers at the end of its life, and a deodorant made of natural wood that is guaranteed for life. And products like this look set to multiply in the coming months to help drive down the environmental footprint of the cosmetics sector.

[caption id="attachment_5047655" align="alignnone" width="806"] Image Credit: EcoTools[/caption]

A vegan beauty blender that’s entirely biodegradable

This week's beauty innovation comes from the EcoTools brand, which, after unveiling bamboo brushes with removable heads, has launched a makeup sponge that's entirely biodegradable. It is, more precisely, a beauty blender, an essential tool for the application of foundation, concealer and other correctors, usually made from silicon, although more and more brands now offer plant-based alternatives. Here, the brand has come up with a compostable sponge that is able to degrade naturally in 180 days.

Dubbed the "BioBlender," the sponge is made with five natural ingredients, including water, corn, a natural preservative, a natural pigment, and Bionanopol -- a compound that makes the sponge biodegradable and compostable. All in all, it's a short ingredients list that's both natural and vegan, designed to respect skin as well as the planet. This biodegradable beauty blender retails at around $6 (approx. HK$47).

This article is published via AFP Relaxnews.

The post The Industry’s First Vegan, Biodegradable Beauty Blender is Here appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Promoting events was Charlz Ng’s life until he discovered the more rewarding joys of nurturing communities. He tells Prestige about creating IRIS, Hong Kong’s preeminent yoga festival, organising the Gay Games 2022 and his life goals.

When I meet Charlz Ng at House of Fitness, the boutique high-intensity studio in Sheung Wan that he co-founded with business partner Michael Melly, there’s a class going on. The venue is dark, awash with the blue and purple hues of florescent lighting, and absolutely pumping with music. The trainer shouts over the din as members stretch and move their bodies in unison to the beat. If it feel as if I’ve just walked into a nightclub, then maybe it’s intentional, because Ng started his career planning events in the nightlife industry.

Ng has an exuberant energy and positivity that are immediately evident as we greet each other for the first time. We haven’t met before, but anyone who’s in the least bit interested in fitness will have heard of him – and if his name doesn’t ring a bell, perhaps the festivals and events he’s put together will. IRIS: Your Escape, the festival that’s taken Hong Kong by storm since 2015 and propelled yoga and wellness into our collective consciousness, was the result of Ng’s blood, sweat and tears.

Active as a youngster, Ng played various team sports while in boarding school in the UK, but in university, he discovered a passion for organising parties, and fitness fell off the agenda. It wasn’t until years later, exhausted mentally and physically from late nights at the clubs, that he and his partners discovered the benefits of yoga and the importance of balance. Soon after, Ng’s Hybrid Group made the transition from hosting music events
to hosting wellness events: the first-ever IRIS was attended by almost 200 people, who showed up at Discovery Bay for a beach yoga session.

Through wellness, Ng also found a new purpose in life. Although IRIS started out as an event, it’s now evolved into a community for like-minded individuals. Yoga was a large part of the festival, but now, running into its sixth year, IRIS encompasses a yoga stage, a silent disco, a zen garden for meditation, a fitness space for other types of workouts, an insider platform for talks and performances, and even a marketplace to showcase a range of products, from fitness apparel to health foods.

“Before, when I ran an event, my goal was to maximise ticket sales, get sponsors and milk every dollar,” says Ng of his own wellness journey. “But when I started doing IRIS, the sense of empowerment I felt and the ability
to spread positive messages really grew on me. It gave me a new mission in life and it made me want to continue doing more,” he says.

He remembers receiving a note thanking him for organising the weekend festival, which helped the writer change their perspective on how to live well. “I was like, wow, this email really just sets the foundation for what
I want to do for the rest of my life. I’ve found my mission, my goal, and I just want to multiply this formula to all the different businesses and communities that I’m involved in. I like being able to spread any sort of positive message, even if it’s to three people at a time, or 30 or 300 or 3,000 … As long as I can touch a person’s life, it’s something I want to do.”

For someone who just turned 31 this year, Ng has done quite a lot. After IRIS, he helped his team at Hybrid bring the Spartan Race to Hong Kong. He’s also the co-owner of the boutique gym House of Fitness and the director of ceremonies of the forthcoming Gay Games 2022, an event that he’s been preparing for over the last five years and is potentially the largest and most significant sporting event the city will see in years.

Ng admits, a little sheepishly, that five years ago he had no clue what the Gay Games were. He first discovered them when he saw his friend Dennis Philipse’s Facebook status on recruiting volunteers while Philipse was bidding to bring the international event to Hong Kong. Impressed by his passion, Ng offered to help. “Later on I was gobsmacked when I learned more about it. I couldn’t believe I’ve never heard of it before – but then no one
in Hong Kong had heard of the Gay Games. It was such a North American thing.”

Ng attended his first Gay Games in 2018 in Paris. “I thought I knew in my head what the Gay Games were, but arriving in Paris I got goosebumps. Oh my God, I’m getting goosebumps again right now!” he says, as he rubs his hand down his arm in excitement.

“The entire city, the entire airport became rainbow-coloured. It was so welcoming. Paris had a very unique position – as they’re hosting the Olympics in 2024, the city council was using the Gay Games as a trial. But it was great and the city was really vibrant.”

Aside from competing in the 10-kilometre run, Ng acted as a volunteer photographer, gaining the opportunity to run around the different tournaments and events, and experiencing the Games at close quarters, noticing the competitiveness, the seriousness and the sportsmanship displayed at every level.

He has fond memories of his time there, from cheering for the volleyball team at the finals – “All 90 of us who flew to Paris from Hong Kong went to the stadium to support and cheer. It was really emotional and obviously, we got gold” – to marching into the stadium at the start of the games, proudly waving the Hong Kong flag.

It’s his dream to replicate that level of excitement, acceptance and pride in Hong Kong next November. Although it’s involved five years of hard volunteering work, the Gay Games 2022 is starting to gain traction in the city. The team has long had the support of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Equal Opportunities Commission, and they’re hopeful that more major governmental departments will also sign up.

Hong Kong counts itself as an inclusive city and, as Ng points out, social media has enabled people of his generation and younger to express themselves freely. “Our parents are probably the last generation who are still stuck in a traditional mindset,” he says. “I think they had less information and there were fewer role models at that time to really explain or stand up for LGBTQ at that time.

“But this is exactly why the Gay Games is so important for Hong Kong. We’re not here to promote anything political, or even fight for marriage equality, nothing of that sort. It’s simply to raise awareness and tell people that, gender aside, an LGBTQ person and a straight person are equals. We can play sports, we can paint, we can meet,” says Ng. “Even for my parents, it was easy for them to understand what the Gay Games is and they’re quite supportive.”

Ng describes himself as an outgoing and social person who’s always been open about himself, but says he only came out to his parents in 2018. It wasn’t easy, he says, because he was waiting for the right moment. “I always had this script, this perfect scenario, like a dream proposal,” he recalls. “And my dream was to come out when I had a boyfriend. It just so happened that I didn’t until 2018.”

His parents have always supported everything he’s done in his life, but still, it was a difficult conversation. “As much as my parents love me and support what I do, they’re still traditional. Deep down, they still embrace this traditional thinking and this hope of having a son who’d carry on the family name,” he says. “That part was difficult because I’m trying to explain that being gay doesn’t mean you can’t have a baby. That’s not a real concern. And also, if I were straight, what were the guarantees that I’d have a partner or a baby anyway? If I didn’t have friends or a job but, oh, I were straight, would that be better? It’s all about perception.

“My mistake was to wait until I had my perfect story, but as a matter of fact you’ll never have that perfect moment to have that conversation,” he says. “After having it with my parents, I realised I could have had it 10 years earlier and it would have been no different.”

Having found power in building communities, for Ng’s next venture he’d like to move away from event planning. “I’ve had a fresh thought recently. I don’t think I want to stay in event management and production for life,” he says.

He’s currently working with eight other partners on Carbon, the new 8,000-square-foot restaurant, bar, entertainment, lounge and lifestyle concept that’s set to open at H Code in the late summer.

“It’s quite exciting because it combines everything I’ve done my whole life. Nightlife, wellness, building a community and an event space. It’s all coming full circle for me,” says Ng.

I ask him if there’s anything left that he’d like to accomplish one day. He pauses and then says, “The first thing that came to me was to go to Iceland, but that’s easy. One of my goals in life is to buy my parents a flat and also put them on a first-class plane to any dream destination. That’s something I really want to do.”

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Jolyn Yong quit her job to spend 16-hour days handcrafting her chocolate bars. But the hard work is paying off with rave reviews.

The post How Jolyn Yong bootstrapped her artisanal organic choc brand, Happy Cioccolato appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Jolyn Yong quit her job to spend 16-hour days handcrafting her chocolate bars. But the hard work is paying off with rave reviews.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Vikas Garg of abillion is translating personal values into sustainable ventures with economic impact.

The post Why Vikas Garg, founder of abillion, is bringing veganism back into vogue appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Vikas Garg of abillion is translating personal values into sustainable ventures with economic impact.

The post Why Vikas Garg, founder of abillion, is bringing veganism back into vogue appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Vikas Garg of abillion is translating personal values into sustainable ventures with economic impact.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.