From Frank Sinatra to Clark Gable, the Hollywood stars Peninsula Hong Kong barman served
Senior bartender Johnny Chung has worked at The Peninsula Hong Kong for 61 years. He recalls the time Clark Gable taught him to make a cocktail, and how the Kowloon institution evolved
Senior bartender Johnny Chung Kam-hung feels at home in The Peninsula Hong Kong. At 77 years of age he is one of the longest-serving employees of the hotel, having worked there for 61 years, and has fond memories of serving guests in the lobby cocktail bar for decades, from Hong Kong regulars to movie stars.
He has watched the hotel evolve in his time there, from the days of fancy tea dances with live bands playing in the Rose Garden room on the sixth floor, to the addition of a helipad on the roof in 1994 and the placing of the largest single order ever for a fleet of Rolls-Royces in 2006. He also remembers a time when the carpet in the lobby was only rolled out in wintertime.
These days he finds himself behind the counter of The Bar on the first floor, his ground-floor haunt of decades having been given over to a luxury boutique.
He no longer works the late shift. Instead, he wakes at 4am to read the paper, and two hours later he is busy squeezing fresh fruit juices for hotel guests for breakfast. His shift ends at 2pm, whereupon he eats lunch in the hotel canteen and relaxes for the rest of the day before retiring early to bed.
“I work six hours a day. I’m used it,” he says with a warm smile.
The Bar is cavernous, with a low ceiling and red leather seats. Behind the bar counter is a gleaming array of bottles. He feels right at home. Indeed, for Chung, who has lost his older sister and brother, and isn’t close to his other relatives, the hotel is home.
