Are food pairings the meal ticket to success for Hong Kong’s growing number of wine bars? Joyce Yip finds out how venues across the city are catering to local tastes.
Camille Glass and Leigh-Ann Luckett, co-founder of Hong Kong’s Crushed Wines, were sure their duck fat tamale and gourmet tinned fish would be a smash at their bar when it opened back in August 2023. In theory, as their establishment focuses on lesser known, small-batch grape producers, patrons should be visiting with a more adventurous attitude, right?
Wrong.
“People didn’t understand what we were doing [with our food],” says Luckett. “They expected a restaurant-level of clarity in terms of whether something is a starter, main or dessert, and the exact cuisine we’re offering.”
The duck fat tamale was removed after only six months.
After a period of trial and error, Crushed Wines rolled out a pasta-forward menu in January 2025, “frankly out of desperation”, says Glass.
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