Life Style

Over the last several months, visitors to Quinary may have noticed that the bar’s threshold now reads, “The origin of Earl Grey Caviar Martini.” Pundits and professionals alike in Hong Kong can trace much of the city’s modern and diverse bar scene to the cocktail, which according to co-owner and executive mixologist Antonio Lai, has been on the menu since day one.The Quinary bar threshold in 2025. Photo: Handout“When we first opened Quinary, our mission was to introduce what we term Multisensory Mixology – a concept that was uncommon in Hong Kong at the time,” he says. “We anticipated it would be well received upon launch, but the fact that it remains a Quinary staple today? Not quite to that extent!” In practice, Lai refers to the now-ubiquitous use of laboratory equipment in modern kitch...

If the filmmaking duo known as Daniels had not named their Oscar-winning movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, it would have been the perfect title for a tribute to Laurence Fishburne.Since his breakthrough as the energetic Mr Clean in 1979’s Apocalypse Now, the actor has been a ubiquitous presence in Hollywood and beyond, shifting seamlessly from hit franchises including The Matrix and John Wick to groundbreaking films such as Boyz N the Hood, television shows like black-ish and the recent Broadway revival of David Mamet’s American Buffalo.He also writes and directs, and has been recruited to lend his distinctive voice to animations, video games and podcasts.Fishburne is Henderson, a retired colonel specialising in training field agents, who comes into Heller’s orbit.And although Fishb...

New films from Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, and Richard Linklater will compete for the Palme d’Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, organisers announced.Thierry Frémaux, Cannes’ artistic director, announced the selections in a news conference in Paris with festival president Iris Knobloch.Entries include Aster’s Eddington, a pandemic-set Western starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone; Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, starring Benicio Del Toro as a European profiteer, with Scarlett Johannson and Tom Hanks co-starring; and Linklater’s appropriately French-language Nouvelle Vague, about Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave.Other Cannes regulars coming back include two-time Palme winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The Belgian filmmaking brothers’ latest is titled Young Mother...

This article contains major spoilers.The master and protégé dynamic between neurosurgeon Choi Deok-hee (Sul Kyung-gu, Kill Boksoon) and his former pupil Jung Se-ok (Park Eun-bin, Extraordinary Attorney Woo), which drives the surgical thriller Hyper Knife, comes to a gruelling head in the show’s final episodes.

One of the most celebrated cinematic love stories of all time, Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love returns to Hong Kong cinemas this week in recognition of the film’s 25th anniversary.Presented in a brand new 4K restoration, this extended edition of the 2000 masterpiece boasts nine minutes of never-before-seen footage. It was previously screened in mainland China earlier this year to coincide with Valentine’s Day.Widely regarded as a jewel in the crown of Hong Kong cinema, and Wong’s masterpiece, In the Mood for Love has endured rumour and scrutiny regarding different versions and deleted footage ever since it barely arrived in time for its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2000.Set in Hong Kong in 1962, the film tells the story of two married neighbours – immortalised on-s...

Cheese counters that seem to go on forever, patisseries with macarons in all the colours under the sun, and huge stalls teeming with fish, lobsters and oysters make the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse market, in Lyon, France, a paradise for gourmets.The popular market pays tribute to Paul Bocuse, or the “pope of gastronomy”, who hails from the region and died in 2018.Bocuse, who was born north of Lyon in Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, led Lyon to the top of the culinary world.“Bocuse is an inspiration and role model for all those chefs who love their profession,” says David Delsart, head chef of the one-Michelin-star Les Terrasses de Lyon restaurant.A worker sells gourmet food at the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, in Lyon, France. Photo: ShutterstockDelsart serves dishes in the tradition of his grand rol...

Giuliano Baldessari of Italy’s Michelin-star Aqua Crua restaurant wears a catsuit that dampens his senses so he can focus on flavour.

During a health fair at her workplace, 23-year-old Emma Rand had her vitals checked.Rand was surprised.The following month, Rand had her annual check-up. Again, her blood pressure was on the higher end.“Let’s just monitor it,” her doctor said.High blood pressure was a warning sign before Emma Rand had a stroke at the age of 23. Photo: Shutterstock

Easter is the most important festival for Christians, as they commemorate the resurrection of Jesus in church services, vigils and parades.It is also a time for fun, with Easter egg hunts. Food plays an important role, too.In the Philippines, people enjoy bilo-bilo, a sweet coconut soup made with sweet potato, jackfruit, tapioca pearls and rice balls.In Switzerland and Germany, Osterfladen – a rice or semolina pudding, baked in a pastry shell – is popular during Easter, while in Mexico bacalao, a salted cod stew made with potatoes, carrots and tomatoes, is often eaten on Good Friday.Rosca de pascua – the name means “Easter ring” and comes from its shape – is a sweet, brioche-like bread decorated with pastry cream, nuts and fruits that is popular in Argentina. Greeks traditionally eat mayer...

One month shy of his 88th birthday, Thomas Pynchon is set to publish his first book in 12 years.Shadow Ticket is scheduled for October 7, Penguin Press announced on April 9.You could call the book, set in the American city of Milwaukee in 1932, Pynchon-esque.“Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strike-breaker turned private eye, thinks he’s found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who’s taken a mind to go wandering,” the publisher’s announcement reads in part.“Before he knows it, he’s been shanghaied onto a transoceanic liner, ending up eventually in Hungary where there’s no shoreline, a language from some other planet, and enough pastry to see any cop well into retirement – and of course no sig...