The October Edition
Greta Lee makes cocktails, East London knows what's good, and Design Anthology honors the best in design
Welcome to the October edition of Golden Hour ✨
It’s been a big month for cultural celebrations. Happy holidays to everyone celebrating Diwali, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Filipino American Heritage Month!
I’ve gone through a bit of a life whiplash lately, so I’ll share a tiny peek behind the curtain before we dive into this month’s newsletter. After a life-changing year in Berlin, my husband and I packed up and moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area last month. There were a handful of personal and logistical reasons behind it (which I’ll save for another time!), but it definitely wasn’t because we got tired of it. Quite the opposite! I’m still grieving and processing the move, and hopefully, someday, I’ll find myself back there, picking up my €3 LAP lattes and whining about the BVG strikes. For now, I’m doing my best to dodge the arm-and-a-leg lattes and praying I still remember how to drive.
If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of moving abroad, even for just a few months — do it. It won’t make your problems go away, but it’ll expand you in the best ways.
For anyone who’s new here (welcome!), I kick off every edition with a kitchen-sink roundup of things I’ve loved, learned, or stumbled upon since the last edition. Here are my latest favorites:
If you like Greta Lee (who is the moment right now), cocktails, and films that’ll go down in history, you’ll enjoy this 11-minute video where she teams up with bar consultant Don Lee to make six cocktails inspired by her six favorite movies — including a few iconic picks by Asian directors. For Bong Joon Ho’s Memories of Murder, she mixes up a Bokbunja Yuja Sour with two parts Bokbunja (black raspberry wine) and one part honey syrup. It’s an unserious, entertaining watch from Vogue, and you’ll walk away with six new cocktail recipes to try at home.
The World’s 50 Best Bars list for 2025 just dropped. Hong Kong’s Bar Leone snagged first place. While founded by Italian bartender Lorenzo Antinori (formerly of Four Seasons Hong Kong’s Argo) and intended to recreate the charm of Rome’s neighborhood bars, it’s putting Hong Kong’s vivacious cocktail scene even more firmly on the map and spotlighting the local mixology talent behind it. I highly recommend checking out a few others on the list too. Sitting pretty at #9 is Jigger & Pony in Singapore, which was one of my most memorable pre-dinner cocktail dates.
This one made me clutch my heart and audibly “awww” — the world’s oldest jazz band is still performing in Shanghai, with an average age of 82. And not just on any stage, but at the city’s historical and legendary Fairmont Peace Hotel. For the past 46 years, this dapper crew with perm-pressed suits and bow ties has played for everyone from Shanghai locals to Barack Obama. I love stories that capture the heartbeat of a place, and this one definitely does.
My (last) Berlin gem of the month (for awhile!): UUU, a Chinese restaurant in the Wedding neighborhood. One of my last meals in Berlin was here for a Hunan dinner pop-up co-hosted by a group of chefs from Shanghai — the team behind Yuan You Tao (Where Peaches Grow). This space is cool in every sense of the word: minimalist interiors, a U-shaped table to be shared amongst strangers, fermentation jars as decor. But what makes it extra special beyond its appearance is its spirit of experimentation. It’s essentially a Chinese food test kitchen, with rotating pop-ups, evolving menus, and even curated trips to China to eat incredible food straight from the source.
After bidding Berlin goodbye, I spent about a week in London to decompress and catch up with friends. A few days in, I realized that London isn’t built for someone like me to decompress. There’s too much to do, see, eat, and try, and I get antsy. I just have to suck it up, pound espressos, and do it all.
One of my best friends lives in East London, somewhere between Angel and Hackney, and I’ll trust his food recommendations until the end of time. This part of town has been home to Asian communities for over two centuries, beginning in the 19th century when lascars (Indian sailors employed by the East India Company) and Chinese sailors settled around in the dock areas like Limehouse and Shadwell. After World War II, more immigrants from South Asia, especially Bangladesh, arrived to rebuild post-war UK. Today, the East End is buzzing with generations of Asian Londoners and truly has some of the most diverse and dynamic food spots.
BREAKFAST: To the London first-timers: go to Dishoom for your breakfast rite of passage. There are locations all over London, but if you’re sticking to the East London trail, head to the Shoreditch or Canary Wharf branch. Once you’ve been properly initiated, make your way to Ngopi in Dalston — the UK’s first Indonesian specialty coffee shop, founded by Birama and Elmira Gladini. They roast coffee of Indonesian origin and serve it alongside delicious snacks, dishes, and desserts like Martabak, Ayam Penyet, and Pisang Bakar. Go give them some love!
LUNCH: Keep heading East — past Hackney — and you’ll end up at Uncle Hon’s BBQ, proudly billed as the “finest Texas BBQ in London” with a distinctly Chinese flavor twist. It’s located inside a vibey, social hangout space called All My Friends, which sells a lot of vinyls and throws a lot of parties. My friend took the reins on ordering, and our spread did not disappoint. We got the BBQ tray (Asian spiced ox cheeks, Black bean plum glazed pork belly cubes, spicy Xian cumin pulled lamb, jasmine rice, and some sides), plus Sichuan beef short ribs and smoked gouda mac n’ cheese. (I know it sounds like we had a serious editing problem, but there were four of us and a very cute pup, and we left no crumbs).
DINNER: I’m ready to call Miga, on the corner of Mare Street and Regent’s Canal in Hackney, one of the best Korean meals I’ve ever had. Bonus points in my book for being family-run — I loved watching dad Hyun Sang Ko being the boss in the open kitchen while his kids ran the front of house. Earlier this year, Condé Nast Traveller dubbed Miga “the hardest table to book in East London right now” and I can vouch for that experience. But once you’re inside, there’s zero ego-fueled pretense, and that’s what makes it marvelous. Many recipes were passed down from Hyun Sang’s grandmother. Order the seolongtang (ox bone broth), galbijjim (soy-braised short ribs), and dwaejigogi jolim (braised pork belly with apple salad and mustard sauce). Vegetarians and vegans, the japchae is incredible.
DRINKS: If you’re somehow still upright after a Miga-induced food coma, Seed Library inside One Hundred Shoreditch is worth a little nightcap. It’s sleek and helmed by cocktail maestro Ryan Chetiyawardana, also known as Mr. Lyan, who grew up in Birmingham to Sri Lankan parents and opened his first bar in London in 2013. Open from Wednesday until Sunday, this spot spins vinyl records and serves Mr. Lyan’s creative classics, like the C.R.E.A.M MARGARITA (one of the ingredients is just listed as “really good cream”) and the Lada Lada (with, amusingly, “lager sizzurp”). There’s also a solid line-up of booze-free cocktails for the sober-curious crowd.
This month’s feature isn’t about one person or project, but rather a whole cohort. Earlier this month, Design Anthology — the publication spotlighting best-in-class design across the Asia-Pacific — announced its 2025 award winners. After reviewing hundreds of entries, a judging panel of industry icons selected 18 winners across three categories: Products (e.g. textiles, furniture), People (e.g. emerging talent, creative giants), and Places (e.g. hotels, retail spaces).
Great Asian designers are everywhere, but it feels especially meaningful to see them intentionally celebrated in this way.
Here are the three that caught my eye most:
Product: Ubique lighting by Hiroto Yoshizoe Studio (Japan)
People: Kelvin Thengono of K-Thengono Design Studio (Indonesia)
Place: Deqin Meri Poodom Hotel by W.Design (China)
You can explore the full list of winners here.
This section doesn’t usually focus on travel, but it’s another chance to spotlight amazing Asian creators, so I hope you’ll read just a little bit more!
DESIGNER: Reike Nen. Founded in Seoul in 2010 by creative director, Rei (Hongmi Yoon), this brand makes shoes that are funky, elegant, girlish, and grown, all at once. I wore a pair of their Riviera Bit Convertible Floral-Mesh Mules (pictured above) to my wedding welcome party, and with their low kitten heel, I’ll probably be wearing them to most dressy events from now on. They’re comfortable as hell, too.
BOOK: Mokonuts: The Cookbook. I wrote about Mokonuts owners, husband-and-wife duo Moko Hirayama and Omar Koreitem, in my first edition of this newsletter. Since then, they’ve released a cookbook with Phaidon, which is so exciting. Now you can recreate 100 of their beloved dishes at home, from Shrimp with Romesco and Corn Relish to Tahini and Black Sesame cookies. With the holidays coming up, this one’s a perfect gift for your food-loving friends and family.
BAND: deca joins. This indie rock band from Taipei makes music I can only describe as lo-fi easy listening, layered with a few sweet guitar riffs. I love putting them on when I’m writing, editing, brainstorming, or just trying to focus through a banal admin task. Their newest single, “我不用問” (“No Need to Ask”), which dropped at the end of last month, is a perfect fall listen — a little more upbeat than some of their usual tracks, but still mellow and smooth.
Thank you so much for reading my newsletter, and hope you enjoyed it! If there’s anything you loved or didn’t quite connect with, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Your feedback is truly appreciated and will help me make this a more enjoyable read for you!
Until next time, Laura x