The Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), will go ahead with an “online + offline” format for the first time to give audiences at home and abroad a new gastronomic experience not bound by time and geographical constraints. The Festival will run from Nov. 11 until Dec. 15 and feature online experiences, including an Online Wine Cellar featuring rare varietals and special offers, and live-streamed cooking and wine-tasting masterclasses on a one-stop online platform.
For global audiences, the highlight of the event is a diverse series of 34 online masterclasses that viewers can enjoy complimentary of charge. The masterclasses will be live-streamed on WineDineFestival.DiscoverHongKong.com for three consecutive Saturdays and Sundays from Nov. 21 to Dec. 6 and then made available for on-demand viewings as well. They cover a wide range of topics, from wine and spirits trends to fine dining, healthy eating, and the art of food plating.
For an authentic taste of Hong Kong, at-home chefs can livestream a variety of cook-along classes and expand their quarantine cookbooks. Executive Chef Adam Wong of Forum restaurant will instruct viewers how to make his Hong Kong-style fried rice Ah Yat Fried Rice. For those looking to hone their fine dining culinary skills in the kitchen, there’ll be live demonstrations by celebrated Hong Kong chefs such as two Michelin-starred Shane Osborn, of Arcane and Cornerstone, and Vicky Cheng, of VEA Restaurant & Lounge.
Oenophiles and wine lovers alike can tune in to the wine talks by Hong Kong-based, internationally acclaimed critic James Suckling and Master of Wine Debra Meiburg, who will share recommendations on the themes “New Wave Bordeaux” and “The Pacific West,” respectively. Suckling will introduce three bottles of affordable new wine from Bordeaux.
An all-lady line-up is featured on Nov. 28. Themed Lady’s Talk, five influencers who are shaking up Hong Kong’s food and beverage scene will each host a masterclass to share a unique take on their own expertise. Shirley Kwok, founder of vegan bakery The Cakery, will lead a cook-along class in which viewers can make their own vegan and refined sugar-free apple pie. Head Chef Vicky Lau of TATE Dining Room will lead viewers through a live demonstration of how to make Crispy Egg with Mushroom Soup. Certified sake sommelier Jamie Lo, Asia-Pacific’s youngest Master of Wine Sarah Heller, and actress-turned-winemaker Bernice Liu will take participants through their own tastings of sake, champagne, and wine, respectively.
“Although the HKTB’s mega events have been suspended for some time, we are drawing on our ingenuity and resources to optimize and adapt promotions against the backdrop of a pandemic,” said HKTB Chairman, Dr. YK Pang. ““That’s why we have decided to resume the staging of mega events and adopt a new ‘online + offline’ format for the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival 2020. It is a new venture designed for the new normal in which we find ourselves. The HKTB is doing this to ensure people can join this annual event despite the pandemic, and to help our hard-hit businesses to promote their products and open up new business opportunities in these challenging times.
“Our objective is to continue giving the Hong Kong economy a boost and to send out a positive message to the world that Hong Kong’s can-do spirit and love of life have not been dampened in any way by the pandemic, and that we can use our innovation to stage our signature events while we prepare to welcome visitors back to our city.”
For more information about the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival 2020 and full program of the online masterclasses, visit WineDineFestival.DiscoverHongKong.com.
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