Rugged Old Salt

I’ve had this romantic notion that the relationships you have with the merchants and craftsmen in your life should be of the greatest quality and should provide more than just a good or service. To gain some education, a new perspective, a new circle of acquaintences or a trusted friend and confidante, is worth much more than the pennies saved shopping at the local mega-store. As if to spur me along, life has presented me with such great value from these relationships I’ve formed. From something like a grandfather in Antonio Liverano to a shop full of Baristas that greet me by name and can tell my order depending on the time of the day and what I’m wearing, I am blessed.

Being here in Hong Kong, I am lucky to have made fast friends with the man who supplies the odd bottle of wine I drink - from the venerable London wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd.

The 320 odd year old head quarters on St James in London is an amazing place I was lucky to tour through last month - from the scales originally used to weigh coffee bags when the firm were coffee traders, to the private dining room for the management, it is an amazing space. The functionality of the place is clearly evident, with layer upon layer of footstep and and the knowledge of centuries worth of wines. Berry Bros. & Rudd is my local, and a relationship I hope to continue until my own vintage gets some quality.