Food & Hospitality Editor
Emerson Chou
A TIDEZINE editorial byline covering restaurants, bars, hotels, destinations and hospitality culture.
Latest Stories
Hong Kong and Japan Team Up: Eight Breweries Descend on PMQ for FLOCKFEST 2026 This September
Craft beer and music festival FLOCKFEST, hosted by Black Kite Brewery, returns to PMQ in Central from September 11 to 13, 2026, bringing together eight breweries from Hong Kong and Japan for 50 beers, eight cross-border collaborations, and free admission.
Ask for Alonzo Rolls Out Sicily-Only Set Menu, Starring Italian Lemon and Neapolitan Eggplant
Ask for Alonzo's six Hong Kong locations are serving up a three-course "Taste of Sicily" set menu until November 15, priced at HK$358, headlined by yellowtail crudo and the classic rigatoni alla norma.
Trump Threatens to Hike Canada Auto Tariffs to 50%, Canada-US Trade Talks Collapse Over the Weekend
Trump threatened on Monday to raise tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, and steel to 50%, set to take effect in January 2027. This marks the latest escalation in the trade standoff, coming after Canadian PM Mark Carney declared his country was "at war" with the US.
Paris' New Spot Mannie: Beetroot Burgers That Don't Pretend to Be Meat, Letting Plant Technique Take the Lead
Opened in August 2024, Parisian street food burger joint Mannie skips meat, fish, and even soy-based meat substitutes. Its signature Double Cheese burger, priced at €12.90, brings together beetroot, legumes, and mushrooms—applying meat-cooking techniques to vegetables instead.
Klay Thompson Set to Join Miami Heat, Heading to South Beach After Dallas Buyout
Four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson has requested a buyout from the Mavericks and, once cleared waivers, will sign with the Heat, joining forces with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo in a revamped lineup.
Lai Lai Lai Opens Second Outpost on Jiashan Road, Turns Sauce Recipes Into Signature Dishes—One Dish Named After the Date Its Formula Was Born
Thai restaurant Lai Lai Lai has opened its second location on Shanghai's Jiashan Road, where chef Guo Li serves up Thai-style pork ribs braised in 24 spices and salted fish shrimp paste clams—with sauce recipes so personal, their birth dates make it onto the menu.
Shanghai Korean BBQ Ditches Beer for Champagne—Hanro Rewrites the Rules with Dry-Aged Beef
Hanro Shanghai, opened by NABI chef Tom Ryu and dry-aging expert Chef Choi, swaps out the usual cuts for Shandong wagyu and Zhejiang black pork—and trades beer for champagne as the go-to KBBQ pairing.
Shanghai Burger Month Turns 5: 15 Restaurants Serve Up Peanut Butter Bacon Burgers and Squid Ink Soft-Shell Crab Burgers
The 5th Shanghai Burger Month runs May 1 to 31, with 15 restaurants each rolling out a limited-edition burger. Collect six passport stamps for a shot at over RMB 20,000 in dining vouchers, with Cheese From The USA and Vedett White joining in as sponsors.
Late-Night Oden on Shaanxi Road South: Sake Ichi Oden Recreates Tokyo Alley Vibes with $30 Highballs
Sake Ichi Oden, located on Shanghai's Shaanxi Road South, specializes in chicken broth oden, ramen and tsukemen, with highballs starting at 30 RMB. Open until the early hours, it sits right next to the Jinxian Road bar strip.
From Kismet to Whisper: Lürssen Superyacht Listed for $173 Million
The 312-foot Lürssen yacht Whisper, formerly Shahid Khan's Kismet, has been refitted and listed for €149 million (about $173 million), with a debut planned at the Monaco Yacht Show in September.
McDonald's Korea Refreshes Happy Snack Lineup: Bulgogi Burger Joins for the First Time, Cold Brew Coffee Drops to 1,000 Won
Starting the 20th, McDonald's Korea has updated its popular value-menu platform Happy Snack, with both sizes of cold brew coffee getting price cuts and the regularly full-priced signature item Bulgogi Burger being added to the discount lineup for the first time.
South Korean BBQ Chain Hanam Dwaejijip Sets Up Shop in Vientiane, Laos, Opening Its 25th Overseas Location
South Korean barbecue chain Hanam Dwaejijip has opened its 25th overseas branch at Kok Kok Mega Mall in Vientiane, Laos, entering the Laotian, Cambodian, and Myanmar markets through a master franchise agreement signed with the Kolao Group.
Polaroid Teams Up With Pokémon for 30th Anniversary, Poké Ball Instant Camera Leads Limited Collection
To celebrate Pokémon's 30th anniversary, Polaroid is rolling out its biggest crossover collab yet, with a Poké Ball-themed Now camera alongside Pikachu and Sylveon Go cameras. Pre-orders open August 25.
Hu Jen Tang Marks 10th Anniversary with Revived 'Hu Wan Gift Box' — Three Sweet Potato Mooncake Sets Now Available for Pre-order
Yunlin-based sweet potato pastry brand Hu Jen Tang celebrates its 10th anniversary by reviving its early salted egg yolk pastry as the "Hu Wan Classic Revival Gift Box," launching alongside two newly designed sets, "Hu Ying Yue" and "Hu Ming Yue," all now open for pre-order on the official website starting at NT$638.
Third-Gen MAZDA CX-5 Launches in Taiwan, i-ACTIV AWD Goes from Optional to Standard Across the Lineup
Mazda Taiwan has rolled out the third-generation ALL-NEW MAZDA CX-5, starting at NT$949,000, with i-ACTIV AWD now standard across the entire lineup. The model also introduces a wood-joinery-inspired design language and up to 54 safety features.
Hong Kong's 10 Best Tong Sui Shops: Where Old-School Loyalty Meets the New Fruit-Forward Wave
From the nightly queues outside C Dessert in Wan Chai to the almond tea at Green Wood Dessert in Sham Shui Po, this list rounds up ten Hong Kong tong sui shops, tracing what old-school signatures and modern fruit desserts each hold onto.
French Madeleine Specialist MADÉ Opens in Central, Localizes with Egg Tart and Black Sesame Flavors
French madeleine specialist MADÉ has opened on Lyndhurst Terrace in Central, making small batches with French butter and flour. Six flavors are available, including egg tart and black sesame, with a "buy more, get more" soft opening promotion.
A Saint-Honoré Made with Jin Xuan Tea: Ladurée's Taiwan Chef Wins Global Title, Landing at Paris Flagship This September
At Ladurée's 6th Global Pastry Chef Convention, Taiwanese pastry chef Ann Li took the top prize with a Saint-Honoré reimagined using Jin Xuan oolong. The winning creation will launch as a limited release in both Paris's Champs-Élysées and Taiwan stores this September.
After a Stomachache, Tomoko Nagao Went Searching for Summer's "Mild-Tasting Drinks"
In the seventh installment of "Today's Kitchen Too," food writer Tomoko Nagao talks about how a bout of stomach trouble from an icy plum-shiso drink pushed her toward room-temperature, lightly flavored summer beverages—plus a kitchen habit of turning disposable chopsticks into stirring sticks.
The Roppongi Chef's Gazpacho Secret: Overnight Marinating and a Two-Stage Blend for an Energy Drink
Chef Josep Baraona Vinyes of "BIKINI SHISU" demonstrates his take on Spanish gazpacho, achieving a silky texture through overnight marinating and double-blending—a plant-based recipe perfect for keeping on hand all summer.
How Much Water Is Just Right? Shigeo Kitade Teaches You to Make Tortillas That Puff Up Using Only Corn Flour
Shigeo Kitade, who went from DJ to restaurateur, breaks down the only two ingredients in his tortillas: corn flour and water. The key to judging quality isn't the recipe—it's whether the tortilla puffs up when it's cooked.
Shanghai's Cold Noodle Map for Beating the Heat: Korean Hamhung Naengmyeon vs. Shaanxi Liangpi, How to Choose
The same bowl of cold noodles plays by different rules at Hongqiao's Koreatown, Northeastern-style joints, and Shaanxi liangpi stalls. We've rounded up seven spots to see how starch noodles, buckwheat noodles, and sauce-tossed noodles go head-to-head in Shanghai's summer.
Thai-Style Fish Cakes at This Nishi-Azabu Bar Get Their Balloon-Like Puff From One Pot of Hot-and-Cold Frying
At "Bar Kwang" in Tokyo's Nishi-Azabu, chef Junko Hasegawa's homemade Thai-style satsuma-age relies on frozen catfish paste and a temperature-swing technique—starting low, finishing on high heat—to achieve a puffiness never seen before.
Hitachi Beef, Hinuma Clams & Cantaloupe: 5 Tokyo Chefs' Ibaraki Solutions
Same Ibaraki ingredient shopping list, five different answers from five restaurants—teppanyaki beef tenderloin with clam-infused sauce, Korean-style charcoal-grilled rare cuts, chilled melon soup with sweetfish. Rolling out from July, with availability periods varying by restaurant.
Tate Modern's Frida Menu: The Chef Spent 10 Days Retracing Paris and Mexico Before Daring to Write It
Tate Modern is staging a major Frida Kahlo exhibition, and KOL's chef Santiago Lastra didn't just whip up some exhibition-tie-in dishes—he treated the menu as part of the exhibit itself, rewriting her entire life through a full course of food.
From $12 Street Stalls to $360 Crab Roe Noodles: Two Ways to Live a Bowl of Noodles in Shanghai
NOMFLUENCE rounds up 13 must-try Shanghai noodle bowls, from late-night fried noodle carts to Crab House's golden crab noodles—a 30x price gap, yet the same city's appetite.
StockX H1 Report: Saucony Dethrones Asics — Retro Kicks and Trading Cards Are the Real Winners
StockX just dropped its H1 2026 resale trend report, and the top spot didn't go to some hyped new drop — it went to a "dad shoe" from Saucony. From skate shoes to Pokémon cards, this report maps out a growth story nobody saw coming.
Upstairs FLAIR Steals the Spotlight, Downstairs AURA Quietly Holds Its Own with an 888RMB Seafood Tower
On the 52nd floor of The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong, AURA Lounge lives in the shadow of its sister bar FLAIR—but carves out its own presence with a seafood tower, champagne pairings, and live jazz.
Mermaid Shows, Mughal Tents, Century-Old Houses: Six Phuket Restaurants Turn Setting Into the Main Course
Phuket's top-tier dining isn't just about sea views and ingredients—it's about how far a restaurant is willing to take its story. From underwater mermaid shows to Mughal-inspired rooftop tents, six restaurants each commit fully to a single concept and let the menu follow suit.
From 280 Bottles to a 450-Bottle Wall: Juniper Turns a Warehouse Into Shanghai's Biggest Gin Den
Banu left the corporate world and moved her 280-bottle gin collection into an old Suzhou Creek warehouse. Now Juniper's bottle wall has grown to 450, making it Shanghai's largest gin bar and a global-flavor restaurant to boot.