Quality Control
By Morgan Short, Aug 26th, 2010 | In Shopping
Although it's been open for a few months now, we've just now had the chance to check out Gary Wang's retail shop / café, KIN. Gary, whom you might also know as DJ V-Nutz, is a manager at The Shelter and is also one of the main guys in Shanghai pushing hip hop, both as a promoter (he's brought in, over the years, DJ Premier, Shortcut, Kid Koala, Kentaro, Krush, and more) and as a sort of mentor figure for China's next generation of turntabalists with his non-profit DJ workshop space, The Lab.
Anyways, KIN is Gary's foray into F&B and retail, and he's taken over a space on Maoming Lu, just north of Yan’an Lu that used to be a printing company in the 1930s. Along with the shop side of it are a few KIN events, in particular a monthly Wednesday film night and a monthly Sunday BBQ party called "The Yard".
The Yard returns this Sunday, and there's a bit of a Q&A at the bottom of this article about that, with one of the organizers, Cerrissa Koza. You should go, man. Get out of the house on Sunday and get some BBQ.
So on the clothing shop side of it, KIN is shirts, shoes, records, toys, and accessories inspired by music and soul / hip hop culture. Shoes are the more idiosyncratic styles from Nike, Vans, and Converse, with prices ranging from 350rmb for Vans at the low end to around 1,300rmb for the high-end Nikes. Shirts are culled from various record labels and boutique fashion companies. These range from 280rmb to 360rmb. And he's also got toys from Kid Robot and a few other miscellaneous items.
So, in addition to that KIN is also a very nice little patio and a café. Food is snacks and light meals, both Western and Chinese. Menu is split into sweet and savory, with muffins, cookies, brownies, and the like in the former category (10-20rmb) and both Western (salads, sandwiches, spaghetti at around 40rmb) and Asian options (tonkotsu chicken ramen, 32rmb; KIN dumplings, 22rmb; spring rolls, 20rmb for 6) in the later.
Coffee is 15rmb. Tea (six kinds) is 20rmb. Beers and mixes are around 30rmb - 45rmb or so. Happy hour is weekdays, 5pm to 8pm. Buy-one-get-one-free.
The whole shebang is built around a community of friends -- other DJs, hip hop kids, assorted Lab and Shelter folk. Despite that, the café portion of it is suitable for any demographic. When we stopped by a few days ago a family with three young kids were getting a bite for lunch and it didn’t seem weird or anything. It's also a non smoking patio environment, which is a rare thing in Shanghai.
So this Sunday, KIN hosts The Yard which is a monthly day-long BBQ party. BBQ eats, hip hop n funk, good times. The event details are right here.
***
SmartShanghai talked to one of The Yard organizers, Cerrissa Koza, about this thing:
SmSh: So, maybe you could talk a bit about the background of "The Yard" then...
Cerrissa: We wanted to create a party based off the vibe on The Do-Over in LA, thrown by some of the Stones Throw DJs. It's basically a Sunday afternoon, backyard kind of vibe -- cheap bbq, pitchers of Sangria, and really good music. Everyone getting crunk and dancing all day. We felt like Shanghai could use something like that as an alternative to the Sunday brunch on the Bund kind of thing.
SmSh: So who all is involved?
Cerrissa: Kyle [DJ Redstar], Blaise [DJ] and I, and now Gary since were doing it a KIN.
SmSh: And it's a monthly? Is this your third one? How have they been going.
Cerrissa: Yeah, this Sunday will be the third one. So far it's been a mixed crowd. The first time seemed like more hip hop kind of crowd, but last one was all kinds of people. The second event was much busier, and we ran out of BBQ, but KIN still had their menu.
SmSh: Yeah, so about the food... what's on the BBQ and who is the grill master? And how much?
Cerrissa: We take turns on the grill (but mostly it’s Kyle and Blaise). We have Australian beef burgers and some kind of yummy sausage. This time were adding some fancier cheese and grilled onions. 30rmb for each.
SmSh: what kinds of music are you guys playing?
Cerrissa: Hip hop, funk, soul and reggae -- stuff that will hopefully make you want to dance. Summer jams.
***
The Yard is back at KIN this Sunday. No entry fee. Burgers and sausages are 30rmb. Runs from 2pm to 9pm. Address info for KIN is right here.
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robjamdj, Sep 26th, 2010
Went last week for the first time. Shanghai needs more of this kind of thing... local neighbourhood hangouts and creative use of spaces with plenty of light. The service staff although some short on english, are also passionately into music and helpful without the attitude you get from lets say a 'Diesel store jerk' back home...Please sign in or register to comment