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Hong Kong
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This week in PostMag: Yardbird founders’ new concept and Wong Fei-hung

Matt Abergel and Lindsay Jang have opened Always Joy, an intimate izakaya, while Lala Curio is showing its wallpaper collection at The Peninsula

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Matt Abergel and Lindsay Jang, at their new izakaya Always Joy in Sheung Wan. Photo: Jocelyn Tam
Cat Nelson

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I still haven’t been to Yardbird. And that makes me feel … ashamed? I know, I know – perhaps that’s overstating it. It is only a restaurant after all.

But it’s a place that seems to have played an outsized role in Hong Kong’s modern food scene. Even living in Beijing more than a decade ago, I’d heard about a fun, funky new yakitori spot called Yardbird. Much like a certain band who came through town this past week, it has its ardent fans, and its fervent haters – lending its importance a certain undeniability no matter on which side you fall.

So Yardbird’s on my list, but somehow I made it to Always Joy first. It’s the latest concept from Yardbird founders Lindsay Jang and Matt Abergel, and based on my evening there – which was a relaxed, effortless good time – I can envision the appeal of their original venture. In our cover feature, Gavin Yeung sits down with Jang and Abergel to hear how the new restaurant came together.

On the other side of the world, Victoria Burrows dives into the inspiration that chefs in the West are increasingly taking from Chinese cuisine. It makes for some tantalising, hunger-inducing dish descriptions. I never thought a flattened chicken head would appeal and yet, somehow it does?

The rest of the issue weaves together tales throughout time. In Weimar, Peter Neville-Hadley explores the German city’s historical highlights. In southern China, Mathew Scott dives into the legend of the elusive Wong Fei-hung, a kung fu master who inspired a legion of Hong Kong martial arts films. For someone so influential, we know strikingly little about Wong.
Back in Hong Kong, Peta Tomlinson chats with Laura Cheung Wolf of Lala Curio as she looks at the world of high-end wallpaper. The home decor brand is opening a showroom at The Peninsula Hong Kong in May where you’ll be able to experience its wallpaper collection that’s rooted in the 18th century Chinese craft of gongbi, or meticulous hand painting.
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