11 minute read
Five minutes with
Shaking it up
Apple Lee meets Zuma’s newly-appointed bar manager, Lorenzo Coppola
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The middle of a pandemic may strike most people as an odd – if not risky – time to move across the world and start afresh in a new city. Not only had Lorenzo Coppola taken the leap to relocate to Hong Kong and joined Zuma as its new bar manager during this period of uncertainty, he was able to launch an entire cocktail series in the few short months he has joined the team.
Born in Livorno, Italy, the intrepid mixologist started out as a bar-back in a luxury resort when he was 17. Shortly after, he left his birthplace and moved to Milan to further his skills and pursue a career in bartending. In 2017, Coppola visited Zuma Rome for an aperitif and immediately fell in love with its synergy and atmosphere. Seizing the opportunity in front of him, he asked for a job interview on the spot and one week later he joined Zuma’s bar team.
Since then, he has stayed on with the restaurant group and worked at various Zuma locations including Dubai (which was named No.23 on the World’s Best Bar 2020 list), Las Vegas, Miami and Mykonos.
Here, he talks to Hong Kong Living about swapping out heavy knits for T-shirts this Christmas, his go-to festive cocktail and the cure to wanderlust amidst the current travel restrictions.
What is your process when creating a cocktail?
I’m always looking for a complete sensory experience that connects the flavours of the drink with the vibe of the bar. We make cocktails for guests, not to show how good we are. Sometimes less is more, you only need a few ingredients to make a great cocktail – it’s all about the balance.
What challenges did you face when starting out in the industry?
The bar industry sees no lack of talents, which makes it more challenging to stand out. At the same time, the competition also pushes my boundaries in this multifaceted world of hospitality.
What is the most rewarding part of being a bartender?
Nowadays, bartenders are getting more recognition for our work and there is a growing number of awards celebrating the drinks industry. Regardless, my goal stays the same – I’m focused on building a unique bond with my guests through cocktails and conversation. Others are just bonuses.
With Christmas approaching, what tips do you have for hosting the perfect holiday party?
We all need a moment of pleasure after such an intense year. An incredible place with great food and drinks to relax and unwind; and being surrounded by people that you love will make the perfect party.
What is your go-to Christmas cocktail?
Something that reminds me of the fun times.
Will Zuma be preparing any festive cocktails this year?
Taking inspiration from Hong Kong’s glimmering Christmas lights, we have created a dreamy blue Christmas Pina, a rendition of the classic Pina Colada. It is a mix of white rum, pineapple and clarified coconut cream with a hint of yuzu. While it remains difficult for most of us to travel and enjoy a hot Christmas this year, a sip of our tropical drink may help to soothe the wanderlust.
Do you have any Christmas traditions?
I used to spend Christmas with my family at my grandma’s house in Italy and it’s pretty much like what you see on Christmas cards with knit sweaters and a roaring fireplace. But this year, I’m excited to spend Christmas with my family over Skype, wearing flip-flops and T-shirts – it will be hilarious. This is also my first Christmas in Hong Kong and I’m looking forward to exploring the city during the holidays.
What gift would you like for Christmas?
I haven’t thought much about it yet, but alcohol is always a good choice.
While 2020 has been a challenging year, do you have any positive highlights to share?
Of course. I was overwhelmed by the warm welcome from the wonderful people of Hong Kong’s bar industry. They have turned the bar scene into a positivity powerhouse despite the pandemic.
What are you most looking forward to next year?
Well, I can’t reveal much about the project we’ve been working on, but I can guarantee it will be fun and inspiring – so stay tuned.
Scrood: A Hong Kong Christmas Carol
Chapter one
MA LEI WAS DEAD. Mr. Scrood slipped out of the boring funeral ceremony and failed to hide his smile. Heh-heh-heh. The grinning property developer had bought the site of Robert Ma Lei’s first supermarket at auction, promising to turn it into a memorial for the businessman. Memorial? Get real. He’d replace it with a tower of 800 luxury apartments—with a little plaque in the rear lobby mentioning his dead friend. Scrood’s timorous assistant Ms Chin noticed his smile and plucked up the courage to ask if she could leave a little earlier today, as her family’s Christmas tradition was to serve at St James, a homeless shelter. “No, you may not,” said Scrood. “I don’t approve of any places where people can live for free. Except prisons, of course.” (Building jails could be very profitable.) As a young man, Scrood, the child of a Chinese mother and a Scottish father, had made a fortune in shanty towns. He made cheap hovels which used no bricks, no cement, and no nails. Instead, pieces of particle board were cheaply screwed together to make shacks. With his dark sense of humour, he called the hovels and the firm Totally Screwed. Today Scrood was one of Hong Kong’s top property developers.
Chapter two
SCROOD ENTERED HIS APARTMENT without turning on the light (electricity costs money) and was shocked to see a glowing, transparent figure wrapped up in chains. “Ma Lei!” exclaimed Scrood, backing away. “Yes, it’s me,” said Ma Lei’s ghost. “I must wander the earth as punishment for my sins, which include 1.3 million individual cases of charging $26 for a carton of milk.” Robert Ma Lei and his Korean wife Jane Park had run a supermarket chain called ParknRob, a branch of which was in every housing estate built by Scrood’s company, Totally Screwed Land Development. “You will be visited by three spirits with important lessons,” Ma Lei said, and vanished. Scrood pinched himself. He must have eaten something which had given him a hallucination. He drank a glass of water to settle his stomach and went to bed, quickly falling asleep.
Chapter three
BUT HE WOKE UP suddenly an hour later. At the foot of his bed was a
Scrood: A Hong Kong Christmas Carol
glowing child-like figure who said: “I am The Ghost of Hong Kong Past. Come with me.” The spectre grabbed Scrood’s hand and they flew out of the window, soaring into the air. What did I eat? Prawn curry? Amsterdam chocolate brownies? He looked down to find they were flying over green fields dotted with small villages. “This is the South China coast as it was on Christmas Day, 1969,” the spirit said. Scrood saw a beautiful young woman with a battered suitcase crossing a bridge. “I feel I recognize that woman,” he said. “Your mother as a girl of 20,” said the spirit. On the Hong Kong side of the bridge was a pale-skinned young man in a uniform. “My father?” Scrood asked. But the spirit whisked him away so fast that the developer saw nothing except blurred clouds. “Where are we going now?” “Wrong question,” said The Ghost of Hong Kong Past. “You should be asking: To when are we going?”
Chapter four
THEY EMERGED FROM THE clouds and the spirit swooped down, pulling Scrood with him to hover over a group of young people entering a white European-style building. “I know where we are! St Paul’s College, Hong Kong’s oldest school,” Scrood said excitedly. “There’s my sister Amy.” The sight of his beloved sister and their friends moved him, and his heart was suddenly full. “Which one is me?” he asked. “You’re not with them,” the spirit said. “They’re going to an alumni party to raise funds for charity. You’re over there.” The spirit pointed to a shanty town on the hillside, where people dressed in ragged clothes were building flimsy shacks. On a road nearby was a van bearing a slogan on the side: “Totally Screwed Co Ltd: Build a Home With Just a Screwdriver”. A young man sat at the wheel counting cash—that was him! “Well, better a hovel than no home at all,” Scrood said defensively. “Your particle board structures softened in the rain so the screws could not hold them together. They would collapse, leaving your customers without homes or money.” Scrood looked back at the group of happy, laughing young people and wondered why he did not spend his days with them instead. A wave of sadness washed over him.
Chapter five
SUDDENLY, ANOTHER SPIRIT appeared in the air—a large woman in green who took Scrood’s other hand and pulled him away. “I am The Ghost of Hong Kong Present,” she said. Again they travelled fast through blurred clouds, but emerged over a very different scene. Gleaming towers appeared around them, and from below rose the hum of traffic. This was today’s Hong Kong. It was dusk, and entire buildings were lit up with moving images of rainbow Christmas scenes. They zoomed to street level to find people browsing andshopping, smiles clear despite their masks. Children queued to see Santa Claus. “Yet the poor must hate Christmas, trapped in their tiny flats, unable to join in,” said Scrood. “Let’s take a look,” said The Ghost of Hong Kong Present. They flew to Mei Foo Sun Tsuen in Kowloon, one of the world’s largest and oldest property developments.
Chapter six
THE BUILDING IN FRONT of them, one of 99 towers in the Lai Chi Kik development, became partly transparent. Scrood expected people to be miserable in their cramped homes, but to his surprise, he saw much joy. In one flat, his assistant Ms Chin and her daughter sang Christmas songs, while her husband and son laughed over a board game. Scrood felt guilty. He had privately nicknamed Ms Chin “Mo Cheen” meaning “no money”. I pay her so little, he said to himself. Then the spirit who was holding his hand swung him round hard—and let go of his hand. He screamed as he started falling: and then gasped as he landed in the arms of a third spirit, who rose effortlessly into the air. He looked at the face of the person who had caught him—and was horrified to see no features. He was in the arms of a faceless hooded figure in a black robe. “Death!” Scrood exclaimed in a quavering voice. “My time has come? My life is over, like Ma Lei’s?” “Not necessarily,” came the answer from a low voice. “Tonight I play the role of The Ghost of Hong Kong Yet To Come.”
Chapter seven
THE THIRD SPIRIT TOOK him on a journey through more clouds to a pair of identical futuristic cities, side by side. “There will be two Hong Kongs?” Scrood asked. “No. There are infinite possible futures,” the spirit replied. “But I show you two extremes: one which
was plundered for profit and power by business people and political tricksters from inside and outside the city’s borders, and one in which the people in this community were left in peace to work together for everyone’s good.” Again, they swooped down and flew through the streets, comparing the two cities. In one Hong Kong, people were smiling and laughing and had a spring in their step. In the other, the residents were silent and haunted, dragging their feet. “How can we ensure we get the happier, healthier future?” Scrood asked. “There is no magic button to make a happy society,” said the spirit. “Yet it can be achieved very simply. All it takes is for each of us to show a little kindness.” Scrood nodded enthusiastically. “Let me live! I can help. Developers can build social housing for the young and the poor,” he said. “Retailers can sell goods at reasonable prices. People can set aside their differences and support each other’s services. And we can all help the poorest.” “But will you?” the spirit asked. “I will, I will, I promise I will,” he said. He turned to the spirit for reassurance—but she let go of his hand. He was falling, falling, falling and then he was in his bed, stirring as if half-awakened from a dream. He felt himself falling back into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter eight
SCROOD WOKE EARLY, dressed himself as quickly as he could, and raced to the lobby of his building. “What day is it?” he asked. “Christmas Day,” said the door guard, hoping for a gift. “Excellent,” said Scrood, handing him a stack of banknotes. Outside, he hailed a taxi—and handed the driver another pile of money. “I’m booking you for the day,” he said. “Take me shopping so I can support as many local businesses as I can. Then we need to deliver gifts to a little flat in Mei Foo.” Scrood looked through the taxi windows at the people on the streets. Offices were closed today and people were delivering gifts to friends and family members. A blue sky shone over Hong Kong at its cheery, breezy best. “You know how we can make our community better?” Scrood said to the taxi driver. “All it takes is for each of us to show a little kindness. Merry Christmas!” The taxi driver, who was Ms Chin’s husband, nodded his agreement. “Peace and goodwill to all mankind,” he said, turning the wheel so they would drive directly to St James’ shelter for the homeless. “God bless us, every one.”
