in your backyard
Top Deck closes for refit Popular Southside brunch spot Top Deck has closed for up to a year for maintenance. The 9,000-square-foot restaurant on the roof of the Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurant will reopen in 2014 with a new look. “We are closing for at least nine months, maybe even a year,” said spokesperson Catherine Yuen. “The whole floor needs massive maintenance.” Staff threw a final party on September 29 and sealed a time capsule of “2013 artefacts” to be opened when – and if – Top Deck reopens. Jumbo Kingdom’s lower floors will remain open. The restaurant has been an expat favourite since its opening in 2005 and its champagne-fuelled Sunday brunches will be missed.
Farewell to Black Sheep’s Daniel Marinov Sad news: Daniel Marinov, founder of Shek O’s legendary restaurant The Black Sheep, passed away on September 11. Famous for great stories, great cooking and great parties, Daniel will be fondly remembered by Black Sheep regulars. The backstreet restaurant, with touches such as neon lights and zebra skins, reflected the surreal zigzags of his own life. He spoke eight languages, invented the neon telephone in the late 1980s and made – and lost – a fortune on electronic innovations. He also contributed plans to West Kowloon. “He was an amazing guy,” said fellow restauranteur Jean Paul Gauci. “Always buzzing with ideas.” Mr Marinov died, aged 57, after a battle with cancer. Details of his funeral were being finalised as we went to press. (For details, please call The Black Sheep at 2809 2021.) “We plan on hiring a boat and sprinkling his ashes into the sea around Shek O,” said his mother, Silvano Marinov. “Daniel loved Shek O.” The Black Sheep will continue, but Daniel will be missed.
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