Life at Ginkgo: Pub Quizzes, 44 Pricks and the Perfect Pork Scratching

Besides the restaurant and the live music, these are some of the things that made Ginkgo Ginkgo, in the blog’s own words.

Gypsy Jazz Valentine’s Day Party (February 2009)

Join us this Saturday night for our Gypsy Jazz Valentine’s Day Party featuring live music from 10:00pm with the “No Name Trio”. The dynamic guitar duo of New Yorker Dan Brustman and Frenchman Nico Torrese, together with Chinese accordionist Wang Yi (Zoe), play fast-fingered gypsy jazz incorporating Manouche and American jazz standards.

St. Patrick’s Day (March 2009)

Join us at Ginkgo on Tuesday 17th March for our St. Patrick’s Day party when a taste of Ireland comes to Beijing! We will have great live music from “The Dublingers” playing Irish folk music featuring guitar, fiddle and a squeeze box! Furthermore, we will also have Guinness on draught for only 40 RMB a pint.

A children’s accordion concert (March 2009)

This Sunday from 2pm the students of Wang Yi (of The Dublingers and No Name Trio fame) will be gracing our stage for a concert to show off their talents. These kids age between 6 and 15 and some of them are really fantastic! Please come down this Sunday and give them your support - they could be the stars of tomorrow!

The roof garden (May 2009)

We are pleased to announce that after a week of hard work the Ginkgo roof garden is now open. Come down and enjoy a drink al fresco – perfect for these sunny afternoons!

Beijing Tweetup (September 2009)

To celebrate reaching 500 followers on Twitter, we are organising our first Beijing Tweetup from 7:30pm on Tuesday 15th September. This is a great opportunity to meet other Beijing Twitter users and finally put a face to the authors of all those pithy tweets! Lastly, many of these links won’t currently work since Twitter is currently blocked in China, but I suppose this adds to the challenge!

44 Pricks (October 2009)

Regular visitors to Ginkgo will be all too familiar with our little creation, but for the rest of you here’s an introduction. 44 Pricks was invented many years ago back in Kenya by Ginkgo’s resident raconteur Rod Hope. It was a time in Kenya’s history when the government had imposed a ban on all imported liqueurs for reasons that still remain a mystery. Rod and his friends were therefore forced to go without or try for the more rewarding option of creating their own – which they duly did! The precise recipe is known only to Rod and is a closely guarded secret, but suffice to say it is a delicious Brandy-based liqueur infused with orange, coffee and some other secret ingredients! Rod might tell you what they are, but then he’ll have to kill you!

The most devious pub quiz in Beijing (October 2009)

Every Wednesday at Ginkgo, team up with your friends and duke it out in Beijing’s most devious pub quiz! Happy hour drinks for all participants! Can you answer all of Rod’s devilish questions? The winners get a bottle of sparkling wine!

In search of the perfect pork scratching (January 2010)

Over the past few weeks, we have been perfecting our recipe here at Ginkgo, and are pleased to announce that after a bit of experimenting we have finally crack(l)ed it! In the US they are known as Pork Crackling, Australia and New Zealand as Pork Crackle, France as Grattons and in the Netherlands as Knabbelspek however here at Ginkgo, thanks to my stubborn Britishness, we will be referring to them by their British name of Pork Scratchings.

P.S. Not suitable for vegetarians, health nuts, cardiac patients, gluttons and the squeamish.

Brazilian Carnival (February 2010)

Celebrate the Brazilian Carnival and Chinese New Year with live music support from the Rio Samaya band, followed by Brazilian DJs playing into the early hours. Wear your mask, hat and dancing shoes. We want colours, costumes and craziness for a great party!

Put together from the Ginkgo blog's posts, February 2009 to February 2010. Ginkgo was the restaurant and bar I opened in Beijing in 2008, after Vineyard Cafe; its blog (ginkgobeijing.com) is long gone, so I have brought it back here. See the whole Ginkgo story.