skyhigh splendour

SKYHIGH SPLENDOUR
Separating cream from foam, Sevva is for connoisseurs who like posh nosh and pre or post-prandial drinks amid stylish surroundings with some of Hong Kong's best views
Gourmands might wish the blend if Chinese and European cuisine at Sevva (pronounced `savour') measures up to the Michelin star class but that would've been tantamount
to nitpicking. We certainly have no quibbles, not especially with a panoramic view of the harbor and city skyline as we nurse a sundowner either ensconced in airconditioned comfort on a luxurious sofa inside, or shooting the breeze out on the expansive open-air wraparound terrace watching the steel girders of Norman Foster's HSBC
flagship lighting up. Its fantastic views place Sevva in the league of the Eiffel Tower Le Jules Verne and we thank the former occupant of the 22,000 sq ft penthouse on the
25th floor of the Price's Building for kindly yielding his private preserve at long last.
As elegantly manicured and impeccably turned out as its creator and style icon Bonnie Gokson, Sevva is a dream venue for power meetings, dining or chilling which Gokson
described as inspired by the DNA of Hong Kong. Akin to a luxurious residence with five different enclaves including a dome ceiling in the soaring formal dining space and a
vertical green wall flanking the lounge facing the large picture windows which will especially please eco-warriors, Sevva oozes quiet glamour from every pore.
Working the sort of magic as he did together with Gokson when they conceived Joyce Café in Taiwan more than a decade ago; New York-based Calvin Tsao of Tsao and
McKown Architects (in association with Team HC in Hong Kong) has imbued Sevva with modish Manhattan vibe. Tsao's largest project maybe the six million sq ft Suntec City
commercial and convention centre project in Singapore. But he's better known for the likes of the Mercer Hotel in New York and a host of modern but lush private
residences across America.
Seated comfortably on a lollipop striped sofa with express at hand and drinking in the beautiful details while waiting for a business associate to make the meeting at Sevva,
those wicked sweets that lured my eye at Ms. B's Cake Corner when I stepped off the lift kept flashing to mind. Sevva knows how to play the devil, what with desserts like
the Fatal Attraction (layers of expresso jelly and coffee panacotta) which translates into another notch up my Bottega belt if I succumb to its seduction. Yet I have resolved to
return soon for its Chocolate Fudge Cake with Marmalade which sounds sinfully rich.
With the likes of Robuchon and Gagnaire around the corner, Sevva's menu cannot but be a tad indulgent. So I understand why their pot pies are filled with wagyu beef
cheek and ox tongue and the macaroni and triple cheese bake is sprinkled with truffles. Even the wee bites are luxurious. There are no buffalo wings. Not with the truffled
scrambled egg and bacon on Poilane sourdough toast headlining the selection to pick on day or night. When a joint gets chummy with people who consider Uma Paro in
Bhutan and Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodpur their favourite hotels, a hint of decadence hardly looks out of place.
(Responsible for the Mercer Hotel and a host of private residences across American, New York based Calvin Tsao of Tsao & McKown Architects injects a dose of the Big Apple
skyscraper idiom into SEVVA's penthouse location)
(Bon vivants will appreciate the luxurious upholstered sofas and wing chairs and eco-friendly touched like the vertical green wall)
(Style icon Bonnie Gokson says SEVVA encapsulates the DNA of Hong Kong)
(More redolent of indulgence than aspiration, the dome ceiling lifts the formal dining space to loftier hrights)
(Wickedly sweet and deliciously glamorous, Miss B's Cake Corner is a devil in Prada)
(Fashionistas can make up a game of Jeopardy with every décor detail inside SEVVA fromTom Dixon's pendent lamps to photographs by Candida Hoffer)