The Sybaritic Single remembers very well his first mooncake: discovered in Singapore, almost 10 years ago. Ever since, he has been flying to Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing to find the best mooncakes every autumn season.
In the beginning, the mooncake tradition was glorified by fine dining restaurants and luxury hotels competing to impress the patrons. The Sybaritic Single prefers snow-skin creations from Raffles Hotel Singapore with Champagne truffles, a perennial favourite since 1990s. But when in Hong Kong, his favourites are baked by The Peninsula and Shangri-La. And in Beijing, the mooncakes are always from The Opposite House – inspired by art.
As the Mid-Autumn Festival hallmark developed into one of the most recognized pastries, luxury brands followed. This year, Gucci, with Alessandro Michele at its helm, has packaged the confection in a velvety box. Loewe imagined an Anagram chocolate mooncake that comes in a wooden case with matching tea cups. Having learnt about the Sybaritic Single’s mooncake obsession, Dior once impressed him with a unique couture chest containing four mooncakes paired with fine teas. Ever since, he received extraordinary mooncakes from various maisons, including Louis Vuitton – always the most impressive.
However, LV mooncakes have fallen victim of their own success: they were among 114 boxes of fake festive goodies in a recent Hong Kong customs seizure. In Shanghai, police seized over 10,000 mooncakes claimed to be LV, worth millions of yuan.
And while the Chinese government is against “vulgar practices that reflect rampant money worship”, the Sybaritic Single doesn’t think a box of mooncakes can cause much trouble – as long as its contents are authentic.
