Sacha Yasumoto is the founder of Dangerous Dinners, a series of secretive, surprise-filled dining events that take place in Hong Kong’s mostly forgotten abandoned buildings. She’s also the author of a book called “Loved Then Abandoned”, featuring the same character-filled buildings. She tells THE LOOP HK how it all got started.
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
I’ve been told I’m hard to describe.
[Proceeds in third person]: “Sacha Yasumoto is hard to pin down to a single identity. An incurable wanderer, Yasumoto calls many places home. A chance conversation once led her to the underground world of urban exploring, and from that time on, she was hooked. Yasumoto is often found emerging dust-covered and cobweb-adorned from the entrances of tumbling mansions and crumbling industrial buildings, camera in hand. With her passport and camera in her hand, her taste buds also get a thrill, as Yasumoto travels the globe in search of abandoned architectural gems.”
Why Dangerous Dinners?
I started to dream of throwing dinner parties in these [abandoned buildings] because many of them deserved to be brought back to life, and the soul of the house is still lingering. There are a few houses I’ve been to which have lost their souls, which is incredibly sad.
What exactly is Dangerous Dinners, and how did this concept get conceived?
My first DD happened by accident at my newly acquired abandoned Italian village that I bought about six years ago. The place was a total ruin, all 600 years of it, and it still is but is more liveable now.
I am still slowly renovating it. About five years ago, I decided to place some of my stored furniture in the ruin and throw a dinner party for my neighbors. DD was born then and there. Everyone made elaborate dishes and brought inexpensive but absolutely gorgeous wines to share with others. I still use this concept of wine sharing at my HK DD events. It was a great success.
Where’s the most dangerous place you’ve hosted a dinner? Why?
The first DD event in HK was in the middle of a forest, with not only monkeys and snakes, but also Leopard cats. My team and I were rather worried about the monkeys making off with our expensive chandeliers, but amazingly they left us alone.
Walking back through the forest at night was rather challenging for the guests, as many of them had also drunk quite a bit too.
What does it take to organize a Dangerous Dinner event?
People cannot even imagine the hard work that goes into creating a DD. It can takes months to find a place, then sometimes months to persuade the owners to let me use their deserted structures. Cleaning the places and making sure the place won’t fall down are also other challenges. Making sure we have brought in enough water for washing dishes, cleaning the place is also a headache, especially when there is no road access, so manual labor is needed to bring that along with all the furniture. Some places can take my team one month or up to six months to get ready.
Have you ever gotten into trouble planning an event?
There are always great challenges with planning and executing a DD event. The list is too long ! But it can entail things like the chef forgetting to bring some important ingredient or a whole course, or someone smashing a plate or two, so suddenly there are not enough plates or glasses.
Sometimes the staff don’t turn up when they are supposed to, sending us all off schedule, which is annoying for everyone. Timing is VERY important. Another problem that sometimes arises is that the ambitious waiters — who are amazing by the way — have been known to serve wines to the wrong guests!
It’s a custom to bring wine, many of the guests belong to exclusive wine clubs so usually end up bringing amazing wines and high-class champagnes. Guests share their wine with their fellow neighboring table guests, so I’m still training the wine staff to not suddenly start serving people willy nilly.
Any scary stories to tell from your adventures?
Not too many scary stories to tell, but the last event seemed to have awoken a friendly and rather humorous ghost. During and after the event, the ghost kept opening one drawer in one chest of drawers. I started noticing this, so I’d close the drawer then wait in the room for a couple of minutes to see if the drawer would slide open of its own accord. It never did, but every time I’d leave the room and come back in, the drawer would always be open. I found it funny and said so aloud, hoping the ghost understands English!
When is the next event that we can look forward to?
Save the date! You can follow @dangerousdinnershk on IG for more details.
