HKK to make wine list 100% by-the-glass

Cantonese fine dining restaurant HKK is seeking to capitalise on the ‘BTG’ revolution in London by making every wine on its list available by the glass.

HKK plans to make all wines available by the glass in recognition of a growing trend for diners to drink less and to order drinks individually rather than sharing a bottle (Photo: HKK)

The move, revealed to the drinks business by wine manager and buyer Rebecca Coates, is to be a key element in an update of the Shoreditch venue’s wine offering coming up “in the autumn”, which will also include a greater focus on biodynamic wines.

“We are really interested in the emerging trend that is seeing people choose to drink a number of different beverages in one sitting,” Coates told db.

“Whereas a group might have previously ordered a bottle for the table to share, increasingly we notice that each individual wants a different drink.

“Expanding our by the glass offering not only responds to this trend but allows us to encourage our guests to be bold in selecting a glass of something they might otherwise not have tried.

“Our aim is to be able to offer all of our listed still wines by glass.”

The news comes as the wine list as HKK was named among the top 20 expert-rated lists in London restaurants by the newly launched Wine List Confidential app.

The free-to-use, consumer-focused app is designed to be a comprehensive guide to restaurant wine lists providing scores in a variety of key categories.

Scoring 92 points out of 100, HKK was commended for its already generous by the glass offering of more than 20 wines – the most available in any of The Hakkasan Group of restaurants including Hakkasan, Yauatcha, HKK and Sake no Hana.

Emerging trends

Coates acknowledged that The Hakkasan Group is keenly aware of the need to adapt to changing trends in drinking habits.

“We know that trends are changing,” she said. “We know that whereas once upon a time a table of four would have shared bottle of wine and one person probably wold have chosen that wine, now there isn’t one person assigned to pick the drinks for the rest of the group – one person will be drinking beer, another one wants to play with cocktails, someone else wants to stick with wines and someone else is drinking so they’re on non-alcoholic drinks.

“We see that more and more often, so we have to keep up with that trend.”

Another trend highlighted by Coates was for people to drink less, but with a focus on quality, provenance and the story behind the liquid, with a growing interest in ‘curated’ drinks lists.

HKK’s wine dispensing machines hold the bulk of by-the-glass offerings. However Coravin will soon be reintroduced, Rebecca Coates said (Photo: HKK)

“People are still prepared to spend money on good-quality food and drink, but they want to understand where it has come from and understand the story behind it,” she added. “So we’re finding that our by the glass options need to be really good and really far-reaching as well. We absolutely are responding to it.”

HKK already has the biggest selection of wines by the glass of any restaurant in The Hakkasan Group. Its BTG offering is revealed on the first page of its theme-based wine list.

“That is one of the heroes of the restaurant,” Coates said. “And therefore our first page is the 20+ wines that we can offer by the glass, so that does introduce the guest to the wine list.

“And it’s a good selection at a really good range of prices, starting at £7 [for a chilled Kalecik Karasi from Kayra in Denizli, Turkey].”

Other highlights by the glass include a biodynamic Reyneke Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch (“We’re spending a lot more time thinking about biodynamics – that will become more obvious [from] the changes we are planning to implement in the autumn), a Vallet Frères Pernand-Verglesses 2014 (£19.65/175ml), Domaine Skouras Saint George Aghiorghitiko 2011 from Nemea, Greece (£9.30), and a Le Clos Jordanne Pinot Noir 2009 from Ontario, Canada ((£24.10).

There is also a sake page, which covers all the main styles of the rice wine. Sake is popular in China and is recognised to pair well with Chinese food. HKK’s sakes come by the glass, bottle and carafe.

The Hakkasan story

The Cantonese fine dining restaurant is one of the restaurants within The Hakkasan Group.

The original Hakkasan restaurant opened in Hanway Place, near Tottenham Court Road in 2001 with the intention of marrying a stylish fine dining ethos with traditional Chinese cuisine.

Hakkasan was awarded a Michelin star in 2003 and has held one continuously ever since. Sibling restaurant Yauatcha opened as a “dim sum tea house” in 2004. Described as “a playful younger sister” by Coates, the venue was awarded a Michelin star in 2005.

Since then, a second Hakkasan has opened in Mayfair, since achieving a Michelin star, while a second Yauatcha opened in Broadgate Circle, Shoreditch, a year ago and is itself gunning for its a star – “We have high hopes,” said Coates.

Chef Tong takes a carver to HKK’s signature cherrywood-smoked Peking duck (Photo: HKK)

HKK emerged in 2012 as the restaurant group sought to “raise the bar even further and deliver a really top-end fine dining Chinese concept”, offering more gastronomically focused tasting menu dining in contrast to the family-style service of Hakkasan, Coates explained.

“We like to consider HKK as the ‘atelier’ to Hakkasan – so in terms of new ideas, really pushing the boundaries,” she added.

HKK also gained a star within its first year of opening.

Reassuring for wine lovers to note is that food and wine are on an equal footing at HKK. Hakkasan executive head chef Tong Chee Hwee (pictured right) spends a lot of his time at the venue developing the concepts for its tasting menus. Much of the work of Coates and her wine team is spent finding the right pairings for chef Tong’s innovative dishes.

“I will taste all of those new dishes and we will spend an entire afternoon finding exactly the right pairing, be that the wine or the cocktail – so that [the food and the drink] are genuinely in harmony with each other,” she said.

“And I think that sets us apart a little bit. I don’t know how many other restaurants that dedicate quite that amount of time to getting a real match between the dish and the drink.”

Such dedication is required for pairing with dishes such as HKK’s signature cherrywood Peking duck, which comes with a spoonful of hoisin sauce and a sprinkle of unrefined sugar.

“That little sugar addition can be a real challenge for wine,” Coates explained. “So finding the right wine for that dish each time, over the years that has been really hard, but now we have one or two wines that go really nicely with that dish.”

The Tuesday tasting

All wines are assessed at HKK’s regular Tuesday tasting. This give a chance for Rebecca and fellow wine manager Diana Rollan to sit down with the head sommelier and review the wines provided by the Hakkasan group’s 60-odd suppliers.

HKK head sommelier Christian Aragone (Photo: HKK)

Around 20 wines are assessed for style and quality each week in a two-stage tasting process. Of those 20 wines, about eight will go through to a second tasting, during which they will be tried with food.

According to Coates, the wines have to fit into four fundamental taste categories – mild (eg, steamed scallops, dim sum), sweet (silver cod in Champagne and honey sauce; sticky rib), savoury (duck, mushroom) and spicy. The wine is expected to be able to match all four flavour profiles.

“If it falls down even on one, even if it’s great with the others, it won’t get listed,” Coates said. “We like to say the food chooses the wine rather than us.

“It’s never 100% predictable. Sometimes wines that we taste in part one and think this is going to be sensational really don’t work, and wines that we think, we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt actually really sing with the food.

Coates singled out Cabernet Franc from Northern France and much young Cabernet Sauvignon as being particularly problematic with Cantonese food.

“Because Cantonese food fundamentally is quite sweet and those green flavours can be really difficult. While Cabernet Sauvignons, especially young ones with those big, harsh tannins – they can be very challenging indeed.

“Wines that do really well often are Pinot Noirs – because they love the earthy, mushroomy characters with all that savoury umami, of course. But the slightly juicier, fruitier ones also pick up very nicely on some of the sweeter dishes, so Pinot Noir is a successful for us.”

To view the HKK’s Wine List Confidential entry, including individual category scores and wine recommendations, click here.

To view from all 350+ Wine List Confidential entries click here.