‘TABLE Talks’ is where we sit down with personalities behind masterpieces and have a chat about their passion and inspiration and how they impact the lifestyle community. We aim to recognize the people behind our favorite haunts and appreciate their craft and skills that revolutionize the industry.

For our first #TABLETalks, we had a chat with Arlene Wong, a powerhouse mixologist who was hailed as Asia's Brand Ambassador of Mr. Black.

“I like bartending because I'm most confident behind the bar serving drinks, but coming up with cocktails that people enjoy is my biggest pride.” - Arlene Wong

Bartending for Arlene is all about cocktail creation. Her passion and prowess have led her to the opulent metropolitan of Hong Kong all the way from North America, which made a mark in the industry as she takes over bar after bar and joins various competitions in and outside the country. Not for long, her expertise even got the attention of Mr. Black, a renowned Australian-based Coffee Liquor, and crowned her as the brand ambassador for the whole Asian continent.

Arlene Wong, Asia’s Mr. Black Brand Ambassador

Her signature cocktail is called ‘Moonless Sky’ making use of Mr.Black, Old Duff Genever, and Bianco Vermouth, a baby between Espresso Martini and martini. “I created for Pontiac with the idea of bars that don't have access to an espresso machine. The name was inspired by how dark the drink is,” Arlene shared.

Arlene Wong is a bartender, restaurant operator, and a powerhouse in Asia’s food and beverage industry. Her passion for hospitality started while living and working for over a decade in North America. Since returning to Hong Kong she has worked with prominent Hospitality Groups and bars including The Butchers Club, Steakfrites, 11 Westside, Elephant Grounds, Wilshire, and The Pontiac.

Upon joining The Pontiac, Arlene has been invited to showcase her skills at various guest shifts and competitions around Hong Kong. Most notably during International Women’s day at Stockton, which focused on female empowerment and hospitality in the Asia bar community. In recent months, she has competed as a finalist in both Four Pillars’ competition and Coffee in Good Spirit of Hong Kong. As of late 2019, Arlene has embarked on a new role as the Asia Brand Ambassador of Mr.Black, an Australian based Coffee Liquor, which allows her to express her love from the best of both worlds, coffee & cocktails.

Arlene Wong making her signature cocktail, Moonless Sky
Get to know her more:
TABLE: What is your funniest experience in all your years of bartending?
Arlene: We recently had a lady guest that was so drunk at the bar, she started eating all our fruits that were meant to be for our cocktail garnishes. We caught her eating a cucumber and we decided to mess around a bit and told her that was the last cucumber in Hong Kong that she ate due to shortage supply, she started hysterically laughing and crying the same time and went on IG live and told the whole world she ate the last cucumber in Hong Kong (She had a huge following on her IG too). She still took the cucumber with her when she left with her friends though.
T: What drink do you think is underrated?
A: Irish Coffee
T: Apart from your own, what is your favorite bar in the world?
A: Kwant in London, partially biased but I do love a good geek out on coffee with the super knowledgeable bartenders there, and a small, cozy bar makes better conversations.
T: What do you like to do when you are not mixing awesome drinks?
A: Boxing, stay at home with a good coffee or cocktail book, hang out with my dogs and play games.

You can catch her on most weekends behind the bar at Pontiac, Hong Kong. Otherwise, you can follow her journey on Instagram as she flies around Asia as Brand Ambassador for Mr.Black—taking over bars with one cocktail at a time.

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‘TABLE Talks’ is where we sit down with personalities behind masterpieces and have a chat about their passion and inspiration and how they impact the lifestyle community. We aim to recognize the people behind our favorite haunts and appreciate their craft and skills that revolutionize the industry.