Food and books are being combined to turn a solitary pastime into a tasty one that fosters connection and discussion for Hongkongers.
In a Chai Wan industrial building in late February, food designer Alison Tan Jia-qi was instructing a room of 20 Hong Kong diners on how to eat rice with a pat of Échiré, an artisanal French butter....
Other times, meals themselves can be catalysts for socialisation.
Since late 2024, wine bar and retailer Crushed – also in Sai Ying Pun – has been regularly hosting “A Dinner with Books” with Gentle Books, in which sharing plates are served among group discussions about each person’s current reads, aided by prompts provided on cue cards.
While finding like-minded strangers seems to be the common thread in literary dinners regardless of the format, finding the sweet middle ground between guided immersive activities – like the Échiré-butter-on-rice role play – and free-rein discussion can be challenging.
“We’re always conscious of how our community wants to engage,” says Gentle Books’ Cheung. “Particular aspects of immersiveness require more involvement, and expected ways of involvement, which is less free-form than what our audiences prefer.”
She adds that she would often overhear “very deep conversations” at their events.
“Our cue cards are optional crutches or guides for people who want to engage at different levels – from easy topics to truly vulnerable questions. Sometimes, it’s easier to talk to strangers: there’s a cathartic element to it.”
Luckett favours the non-title-exclusive format, believing it is more welcoming to readers of all sorts and does not burden her kitchen team in crafting and executing a separate, one-off menu like the Butter endeavour.
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