Hakkasan Group’s, Hakkasan, Yauatcha and HKK are celebrating The Year of the Rooster for Chinese New Year this year across the entire group and we can’t be more excited. Here’s a summary of what’s happening at…
Hakkasan
All 11 Hakkasan restaurants are honouring the Chinese wishing tree tradition inspired by the Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees in Hong Kong. During this auspicious time, guests will be able to share their hopes for the coming year by writing wishes on beautiful red and gold ribbons, and invited to hang them on the iconic Hakkasan lattice cages. The ribbons featuring a bespoke rooster design by London illustrator Kam Tang and limited edition menu will be available to guests from 13th January to 11th February.
Guests will receive the Waltzing Collins cocktail featuring Asian spirits such as baijiu and sake, as well as Chinese New Year fruits like mandarin, which symbolizes luck for the new year. The cocktail will be decorated with a striking golden rooster to celebrate the Chinese zodiac inspired by the ‘waltz’ that the rooster performs whilst trying to attract a female.
Guests around the world will receive the Fortune tale for the Chinese New Year feast, a traditional Chinese prosperity salad that is tossed together at the table in front of the guest featuring roasted chicken, jellyfish and mooli. The dish is commonly eaten during Chinese New Year to begin the festive meal to bring prosperity and fortune. In London, this will be followed by exclusive dishes such as Double boiled fish maw and chicken soup, a decadent dish using luxury Chinese ingredients. The main dishes include Fry prawn with peppercorn, Steam turbot with saffron and supreme soup, Sautéed duck breast in spicy bean sauce and Three mushroom with abalone sauce.
The menu will end with Deep fried sesame balls, a traditional Chinese dessert using a light pastry with a custard filling. In addition, they will receive Golden feather, an innovative dessert featuring a ginger panna cotta, mandarin and caramelised white chocolate.
Hakkasan will provide entertainment believed to bring good luck and fortune in the form of the Chinese lion dance. Performed on Saturday 28th January at Hakkasan Hanway Place and Hakkasan Mayfair as part of the restaurant’s Chinese New Year celebration, lion troupes will make their way through the intimate lattice woodwork cages, offering symbolic expressions of luck, fortune, wisdom and joy.
The Chinese New Year menu is priced at £88, however there is an additional option for the £108 menu that features two additional authentic Chinese dishes; Braised Chilean abalone with oysters and a Sweeten bean stuffed sticky rice cake for dessert presented in the shape of goldfish.
Yauatcha
At Michelin-starred dim sum teahouse Yauatcha, celebrations will be centred around the illustrious colour red for Chinese New Year. In Chinese culture the colour red is synonymous with good luck and joy and 2017 is the Year of the Rooster, symbolising fire and fortune. Yauatcha has created a range of 10 different petits gateaux each decorated a vibrant shade of red, alongside a red cocktail using the Chinese spirit baijiu and a red dim sum dish all available from 16th January to 11th February.
The 10 red petits gateaux created by the Yauatcha pastry team feature a range of flavours including the signature Raspberry delice and Chocolate pebble, as well as newer additions such as the Blackberry tart featuring a lemon crème with seasonal, sweet blackberries and the Coconut Lime petit gateau with a coconut mousse and tangy lime curd on a coconut sable base, all available à la carte or to take away. Guests will receive the retail patisserie in a luxurious limited edition gold-foiled red bag to mark the special occasion.
In addition Executive Head Chef Tong Chee Hwee has created a red dim sum dish containing Truffle crabmeat dumplings with a bright red casing to bring prosperity and wealth to guests for the forthcoming year. The exclusive ‘Red Moutai’ cocktail was created especially for Chinese New Year, bold red in colour to symbolise good fortune and containing the Chinese spirit Moutai baijiu, mixed with vodka, pineapple and elderflower.
Throughout the campaign Yauatcha Soho and Yauatcha City will be home to an impressive array of glowing red Chinese lanterns creating a festive atmosphere. Guests will also experience a traditional, celebratory Chinese lion dance in Yauatcha City on 27th January and Yauatcha Soho on 29th January.
Launching over Chinese New Year will be Yauatcha Life, a printed annual magazine with bespoke stories, poems and illustrations covering a multitude of topics related to Chinese culture and food. The publication will be available at Yauatcha restaurants from 16th January or by subscribing via the Yauatcha website.
The Chinese New Year menu and festive decorations will be in the restaurant from 16th January to 11th February. Each petit gateau will be priced at £5.90 from the retail counter and £8.80 à la carte.
HKK
We’ve covered this one already, HKK have launched ‘The Emperor’s Feast’ which kicks off Chinese New Year with a 10 course dinner (two courses longer than the standard Chinese New Year menu). Read more
