Hatsune Contest Winners Announced!

Out of the 15 entries I received, Alan and I decided there were too many good creations to choose from so we selected our top 5 favorite.

Officially introduced at Hatsune’s EPIC 9 Year Anniversary Party last night, let me announce the winning sushi rolls from Hatsune’s sushi roll contest.

A BIG thank you to everyone who took the time to submit their genius creations, and for anyone who has always wanted to make their dream roll a reality, feel free to submit me more suggestions as we will continue to add to Hatsune’s ever-growing list of delicious sushi rolls. (contact me directly: kristen@lumdimsum.com).  Winning roll creations will be rewarded with a complimentary dinner for two including your new creation, RMB 1,000 Hatsune gift card and a lifetime of bragging rights.

Without further ado, let me present these incredible new additions to Hatsune’s new menu (in no particular order as each of these creations are all winners!):

1.  Flory Hand Roll by Charles Chan

Shiso mint leaf, scorched salmon and raw quail egg with black tobiko

Flory Hand Roll is made for an adventurous palate

2. Megatron Roll by Lisa Qin

Tempura jalapeno, spicy tuna, masago topped with avocado, chopped spicy unagi and shichimi chili powder

Megatron guarantees to knock your senses out with some serious spice!

3.   candy&caviar Roll by Candy Lin

A creation by candy&caviar fashion label: deep fried sweet potato, crab salad, avocado and cucumber topped with yellowtail, wasabi mayo and caviar

candy&caviar roll is the perfect balance of playful purity and dark sophistication

4. Maximus Prime Roll by Maxime Pourrat

Prime Rib Steak Tartare and avocado rolled with sweet amaebi shrimp sashimi

Upgraded Deluxe Version: Kobe beef steak tartare and avocado rolled with live lobster sashimi

Maximus Prime is the ultimate roll that will take you to the max!

5. Lollipop Handroll Trio by Lexie Morris

#1: Filled with sweet coconut rice and slices of mango and papaya, garnished with twists of lime and grated coconut

#2: Filled with black sesame ice cream, garnished with toasted black sesame seeds and sliced kiwi

#3: 2 blended mini vanilla cupcakes with lollipop garnish

Hatsune Winners from L to R: Lexie, Charles, Max, Candy & Lisa

Beijinger Spotlight Interview: Candy Lin

Founder of candy&caviar, Candy Lin is spotlighted in the most recent Agenda Magazine with a 2-page spread featuring an in-depth interview about how she created her fashion label and the instantaneous success she received with celebs like Will.i.am and Jay Chou proudly sporting her designs.

“Beijing could use candy & caviar. Maybe that’s why I chose Beijing – the people here are very open-minded about up-and-coming fashion, which is why it’s great to be here.” – Candy Lin on Beijing’s Fashion Scene

From candy&caviar’s beginnings and philosophy to her charity program Project 141, Candy is well on her way to making big waves in the fashion world.

*To read the full theBeijinger article, click here.

candy&caviar Showroom Address:

China Central Place, Building 16, Room 921

www.candyandcaviar.com

AM774: My Life in Beijing

Last Tuesday, candy&caviar and LumDimSum were both featured guests on AM 774 Radio Talk Show’s <My Life in Beijing> with hosts Beijing Playhouse Executive Director Chris Verrill and radio interview veteran JinJing.

A lively conversation inclusive of very entertaining and slightly awkward/embarrassing moments, Candy & I discuss a range of interesting topics from our backgrounds coming from California, how we ended up in Beijing, candy&caviar’s origins and its collaboration with LumDimSum on putting together their first fashion show, educating Chris Verrill on fashion lingo & the advantages of having jacket thumbholes, Project 141, celebrity sightings during Beijing’s 2008 Olympic games, purse & food obsessions, and even my very accurate imitation of a “man-model catwalk strut”.

If you have about an hour to kill, you can watch the entire video segment from the radio interview by clicking on the photo below.

candy&caviar and LumDimSum on Radio AM 774

A Celebration of Champagne, Cupcakes, candy&caviar!

Congratulations to candy&caviar on a beautiful fashion show!

Showcasing candy&caviar’s entire Fall 2010 Collection with a proper debut on the runway, this event featured candy&caviar’s signature hooded blazers, stunning silk dresses and trend-setting new dress shirts paired with bow ties, the perfect touch of candy&caviar.

For looks that combine class, confidence and sophistication, the candy&caviar show was hosted at the beautiful d.lounge, marking the official launch of candy&caviar in Asia.

LumDimSum Photo Gallery of the candy&caviar FW 2010 fashion show @ d.lounge:

www.candyandcaviar.com

A special THANK YOU to candy&caviar’s generous sponsors:

• d.lounge

• C. de France

• BonBon Bins

• Lollipop Bakery

candy&caviar Showroom Address:

China Central Place, Building 16, Room 921

LumDimSum and candy&caviar's very own, Candy Lin

From Chocolate to Hot Dogs, Here is this Weekend’s Breakdown

Looking for this weekend’s hot spots?  Here is this Weekend’s Breakdown (weekend for me starts on Thursday):

Thursday:  October, 22, 2009

It’s almost started to become routine to go to Xiu EVERY Thursday Night as all ladies are served free vodka cocktails until 1am, but I’m quite happy to have a great event to drive the crowds away from Xiu this week.

theBeijinger is throwing their 8-Year Anniversary Party @ Chocolate

RMB 90 All-You-Can-Drink from 8:30pm-Midnight.

Dress Code: Garish and Glam & Free champagne for the most flamboyantly dressed. (Seeing how crazy people come dressed is reason alone to go. If you don’t care for gaudy dress, then at least go for the 90rmb drink deal)

Friday: October 23, 2009:

Dinner @ Hatsune (Guanghua Lu), then Beyonce Concert & Beyonce’s After Concert Party” @ BLING

Alan’s got himself a box at the Beyonce Concert and has decided to extend his gratitude to a new crowd of Hatsune lovers by granting 4 people box seat tickets along with a complimentary dinner at Hatsune, transportation to the concert and countless bottles of champagne throughout the night.  How to pick these 4 people?

This week, I’ve started a project.  Every night at Hatsune & Karaiya, Will Miller (Alan’s intern) and I have started a raffle with people who dined in the Sanlitun restaurants this week, where we’ve gotten an overwhelmingly positive response for this generous offer from Alan.

Winners:  Mabel Wong & Regina Honorable, Congrats!

And of course after the Beyonce Concert, BLING’s got the Official After-Concert Party!

Saturday, October 24:

Hot Dog Eating Contest & Candy’s Birthday!!

All-Star’s Hot Dog Eating Contest: ROUND 2

All-Star will be hosting its 2nd Hot Dog Eating Contest on October 24th. Ten contestants will be selected to compete in a 3-minute hot dog eating contest for their chance to win a grand prize of 1,000 RMB CASH. Six time world champion Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi could down 59 dogs in 10 minutes. Are you up for All Star’s Challenge?

Date: Saturay, October 24, 2009

Time: 8pm

To Sign Up, Call David: 138 1055 7239 or Me: 132 4011 4868

Then it’s my Best Friend, Candy’s Birthday Party!!  Pre-drinks @ d lounge, then party @ BLING!!  Come Celebrate with us!

Quintessentially Chic candy&caviar

If you don’t know Candy Lin and you’ve never heard of candy&caviar, I’m about to give you the inside scoop.

A fellow Fashionista and my very best friend, Candy (founder & designer of candy&caviar fashion label) is someone I can relate to in a lot of ways – she’s also from California, she’s super positive, bubbly and she’s always excited…all the time.  And she’s got a lot to be excited about with the release of her 2010 lookbook and the launch of her new webstore on candy&caviar‘s website.

will.i.am sporting candy&caviar Oliver vest

candy&caviar is Candy’s fashion label and what she likes to call her ‘labor of love.’ Thoroughly attached to every aspect of design and production, from picking out the menswear tweed for a signature hooded vest, to defining the particular fit of a cropped swing coat, Candy spends countless hours poring over lush fabrics, glossy buttons, and colored thread in a never-ending quest for the perfect combination. Her unique design sensibility leads to the fusion of classic pearls and retro bow ties with take-notice bold leggings and heavy-duty metal zippers, for looks that are contemporary and free-spirited, yet luxurious and always gracefully pulled together.  An entrepreneurial USC communications major with a creative streak, Candy’s love for the fine arts, media, and all things fashion-related led to the creation of her clothing line, candy & caviar, in January 2008. Within just two years, candy&caviar is a fashion label already recognized by distinguished publications and international celebrities with Will.I.Am hooked on candy&caviar’s signature hoodie vests.

Will.I.Am wearing candy&caviar Christian vest

And just last week I was behind-the-scenes with Candy’s most recent photoshoot for the launch of her online webstore.  Utilizing the factory-chic setting of 1949 – The Hidden City, Candy featured her top picks from her 2010 Collection of candy&caviar. From the girls’ collection, we shot the trend-setting Madison – a tuxedo vest with black silk lining and double-zipper pockets, Edie – a hooded velvet blazer with front and sleeve zipper closure, and my personal favorite: the Hudson – a windbreaker with grey satin lining, thumbhole detail and cotton hood. From the men’s collection, we also featured the Hudson windbreaker along with the Preston – hooded zipper cardigan and Nathaniel – hooded double-layer blazer.  See here some behind-the-scene photos:

And for the final product, check out candy&caviar’s webstore:

candy&caviar Preston Cardigan & Hudson Windbreaker

*Shout out to my ‘assistant’ Christian, models Brandon & Monica & photographer Matthew Niederhauser

Now that you’ve got the down-low on Candy’s very own candy&caviar fashion label, I encourage you to check out the candy&caviar webstore where you can place orders online or visit the candy&caviar Beijing showroom at China Central Place. When you find yourself hooked like me, you’ll be happy to know that this is just the beginning for candy&caviar.

“I live to inspire and be inspired. What Andy Warhol has done for pop art, what Frank Gehry has done for architecture and what Run DMC have done for hip-hop is what I want to do for fashion.” – Candy Lin

Not only is this little bundle of energy a pleasure to know, Candy’s got a heart of gold, she’s brilliantly creative, incredibly hard-working, and driven by her passion for fashion and to make her mark on the world, starting with candy&caviar.

Best for Last

Since the opening of Capital M mid-September, I’ve been dying to go back and I just found the perfect opportunity – Sophia’s last night in Beijing, I saved the best for last: dinner at Capital M (which was such a girl-date) followed by a tour of the Legation Quarter inclusive of a drink at Fez, Saul’s birthday bash at Punk (dance madness), topping the night off with my love, BLING.

Sophia's Last Night in Beijing

When I was planning this dinner at Capital M, everyone and their mother said they were down to come along with all the good word-of-mouth praising the food and drinks, but with the changing weather and everyone feeling ill and bailing out, the dinner party went from a party of 8 to me and Sophia’s ‘girl date’ (and Candy joining us for dessert).

At last month’s opening, everyone had good things to say about Capital M.  It was warm enough still to hang out on the beautiful terrace with a spectacular view, and there was a LOT of free food and drinks.  The freebies aside, what really sold me before was actually the venue design.  I love Capital M’s colorful, hand-painted artwork along the walls and the cozy boxed fireplaces throughout the venue.  What a perfect place for a date…even though in this case, it was just a girl-date. haha.

And this time around, I really got to the true Capital M dining experience, which was such a treat. The service was fantastic, the wines were lovely, and the food was beyond remarkable.

Sophia and I shared a starter – the Audacious Aubergines, a refreshing, cold appetizer with 3 different types of aubergines. For mains, Sophia ordered their Fesengjan – Iranian duck leg with spiced duck breast, walnuts & pomegranates, which was such a flavorful combination and we loved the cucumber & dill salad on the side.  Also a meat lover, I ordered the Leg of Lamb, which came with smashed yams, sauteed spinach and glazed shallots. The lamb was so tender, it melted in my mouth.

The portions were generous and we were stuffed, but with Candy coming to join us, we decided to indulge in gluttony and go for their Grand Dessert Platter  that included a tasting of their entire dessert menu – 3 various sorbets/ice cream, raspberry souffle, creme brulee, orange and cardamom canaloni and our favorites: the baked bananas and M’s famous Pavlova (meringue with passionfruit ice cream and topped with fruit).  Best dessert platter ever – it was so good it practically put us in a coma. Their pavlova alone is reason enough to go back.

After dinner, we were given a grand tour of the venue – it’s a shame the weather is getting cold so fast, but I was happy to see that they have transformed the lounge area with the cool rooftop is now being used as a dining section as well.

Once again, two thumbs up!

Thanks again to our perfect host, restaurant manager Fabian Ernst for making the evening such a delightful experience and for introducing me to Michelle, the owner and creator of all three M restaurants: M on the Bund, M on the Fringe, and now in Beijing – Capital M.  *Interesting fact: Michelle has no investors, business partners, nada.  Australian bred, Michelle is a one woman show in all three of her restaurants.  What an accomplished, talented woman – very, very  impressive.