We’re only weeks away from officially being available in Atlanta through our partners Two Friends Imports and we’re proud to announce that we’ll be available at Straits Atlanta!

From 2009 Food and Wine Magazine article:

In the last three year, Christopher Bridges, a.k.a. Ludacris, has had several major accomplishments. He won two Grammys for his album Release Therapy (not so surprising). He earned rave reviews for his role in the movie Crash, which snagged an Oscar for best pictures (pretty surprising). And he opened a Singaporean restaurant, Straits Atlanta, in his hometown (very, very surprising)…

Chris Yeo himself came to the restaurant business circuitously. He grew up in Singapore, worked as a bartender there and made his way up to San Francisco in 1980 as a hairstylist. He missed Singaporean food so much he decided to open a restaurant. “It makes more sense than you think. When you’re a hairdresser, you entertain a lot,” says Yeo, who continued to cut hair until the lines outside Straits forced him to concentrate on his cooking. Today he has four Straits locations and a Chinese restaurant, SINO; he plans to open a new Straits in Houston ans a SINO in Santa Monica, California. “I have five restaurants now,” he says. “But I haven’t gotten as many reviews in my entire life as when I teamed up with Ludacris.”

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Dolce and Gabbana's Gold Restaurant in Milan was the inspiration behind Atlanta's new Aurum Lounge. Photos of Aurum Lounge to come.

A lounge called Aurum ( Latin for gold) is scheduled to open August 1st, in Metropolis, the likes of which would even impress Auric Goldfinger. Taking street level space on the 8th street side of Metropolis, Aurum is bound to set a new standard of luxury in Atlanta. Aurum’s location may be ironic to Midtown residents as it’s across the street from the shuttered Gold Star cafe & bakery.

The concept for Aurum was inspired by Dolce and Gabbana’s Gold Restaurant in Milan and is said to be Hollywood Regency Glam with a gold and chocolate color palette. The menu is to include typical bar fare along with sushi, small tapas and sandwiches, but nothing fried. Owner Mike Hsu is actually a resident of Metropolis who apparently couldn’t resist what he sees as his golden opportunity to open his dream lounge. Let’s just hope he has the Midas touch with not just with the amenities but with the food as well

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We’re honored to be planning our first Haamonii (harmony) Shochu tasting in Atlanta in September with MF Sushibar through our distribution partners at Two Friends Imports.

MF (Magic Fingers) Sushibar is considered to be the best sushi restaurant in Atlanta and was founded by the Kinjo brothers, Alex and Chris, whose complementary talents are the core of the midtown namesake. Chris is a renowned sushi chef who has shared his innovative approach to the sushi making craft in restaurants across the U.S. for more than a decade. His amazing use of his hands in creating his renowned dishes earned him the “Magic Fingers” nickname from his peers. Chris’ respect and passion for the art of sushi have earned him the reputation as one of the country’s most creative and accomplished sushi chefs.

We’re all looking forward to pouring Haamonii for you.

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Haamonii Shochu from ALFORDE M. JOAQUIN on Vimeo.

Thank you Alf, Monse and Kevin of Eener Entertainment! We’re honored to have such a highly recognized and professional team capture feedback from our customers and a glimpse of what Haamonii Shochu is today! We look forward to the opportunity to be a part of your online entertainment series again in the future.

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I find that life is filled with many opposites:

• Work | Play
• Hungry | Full
  
• Happy | Sad
• Tired | Refreshed
• Busy | Free
  
• Stress | Calm… the list goes on and on.
  

With this reality, I have found that the meaning and joy of life is to constantly seek the harmony between life’s many opposites.

TRADITIONAL SHOCHU – THE RIGHT BUZZ

For many, many years, we’ve enjoyed sharing shochu with everyone. I’ve always found traditional shochu to be the perfect drink that is not too weak and not so strong as to put you over the edge. Interestingly, many of my most memorable moments of harmony in life have come when sipping shochu with my friends and making new friends.

TRADITIONAL SHOCHU – THE WRONG TASTE

The only thing wrong with traditional shochu or soju was that it often had a fire-like, strong alcoholic kick. Not only that, many who were not familiar with ethnic tastes of shochu did not find it to be as enjoyable or as easy of a taste to acquire.

MODERN SHOCHU – HAAMONII SMOOTH

Having enjoyed shochu for so many years, I soon found myself on a quest to create a modern shochu that would have all the best qualities of traditional shochu and none of the worst. With each small step, I moved towards this goal. Soon the goal became a dream and the dream became a passion to create what would be the world’s smoothest shochu to share with all. Based upon the feeling of harmony that shochu has brought to me and our friends, I named it Haamonii Smooth (Haamonii is Japanese for harmony) . After 3 years of passion along with the help of friends, family, and a world class mixologist, I’ve been more than fortunate to have won 4 medals in international competitions and spirits reviews with Haamonii Smooth. More importantly, however, than any awards I look forward to your sincere feedback as to how much you enjoy Haamonii Smooth. Regardless of whether the thoughts are good or bad, I want to hear it all. My sincere feeling is that we can always improve and the only way to do so is with open and honest feedback from everyone.

PEACE AND HAAMONII

For me, it has been a dream come true to share Haamonii Smooth with the world as I hope to be able to help others find peace and harmony in their lives as well as I in my own.

LETS [BLOG] OVER A DRINK

This blog was created to allow you and I to carry on the very conversation that we would share over a drink of Haamonii. Simply put, my goal with this blog is to create a global dialog with anyone in the world about Haamonii and seeking harmony in our complex modern lives. No matter who you are, say anything that comes to mind. Ask anything. Write anything and I will do so in return with open transparency with the hopes that we can share in life’s experiences together.

POUR FOR OTHERS AND NOT SELF

As it was described written by John Krakauer, in his book Into the Wild, ‘Happiness is only real when shared‘, I also feel that true life harmony can only be found with the company of others. With that in mind, I look forward to sharing a drink of Haamonii with you as we ‘pour for others and not self’. Based upon a time honored Asian tradition, pouring for others and not yourself was created so that no one would ever drink alone. Not only should we not drink alone, we should not be alone in our experiences in seeking harmony.

I would love the opportunity to personally pour some Haamonii for you to continue this conversation in person.

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