A New Sustainability-Focused Hong Kong Bar is Getting Plenty of Attention
22 October 2020
A new bar in Hong Kong is getting a lot of attention for sustainability, and it hasn't even opened yet.
- Hong Kong’s first eco-conscious bar
- Two new bars Penicillin and Dead & to open in Central this autumn
- The ‘Noma of nightlife’? Hong Kong’s first sustainable bar, The Penicillin, is celebrity bartender Agung Prabowo’s new concept after quitting Asia’s 50 Best-winner The Old Man
- The Founders Of The Old Man To Open Two New Bars, Penicillin And Dead &
Penicillin will have a fermentation lab:
To that end, the bar will also feature The Penicillin Lab, a focal point that will showcase all the processes behind the team’s experimental cocktail creations; the space also features a Fermentation Chamber where visitors can witness the transformation of ingredients in their various stages.
The sustainable elements go beyond food and drink. Fixtures from Buddha Lounge are being kept to avoid having to create and ship in entirely new decor. Staff outfits are being made of recycled cotton. Furniture is being crafted with wood from trees that were blown down during last year’s typhoons.
Bills will be sent via email unless a customer specifically requests a paper record, which will come on recycled paper made by the bar itself. “Just imagine, it’s a Noma, but doing it for drinks instead of food,” says Prabowo, mentioning he even intends to forage for local ingredients the same way Danish chef René Redzepi has done at his celebrated Copenhagen restaurant.
The aforementioned lab will recycle waste products into usable items such as paper or essence. A fermentation room, visible to customers, will help create both food and drinks.
Prabowo explains how that might work: “We squeeze the lemon juice for a drink. So what can you do with the skin? Use it as a garnish. The husk, the seeds … Maybe we can send it to the kitchen to use them as an ingredient in food, or send it to our lab to use in hand sanitiser. We want to use everything to the fullest.”