How Hong Kong’s Charlene Dawes built The Tastings Group, an award-winning F&B company

Charlene Dawes grew up in Tai Po in the New Territories of Hong Kong. She left for California to study Marketing at Pepperdine University. Today, she is the owner and managing director of The Tastings Group, a hospitality company behind some of Hong Kong’s most acclaimed bars and restaurants. “I was never very academic, I did PE, graphics and biology for my GCSEs and A levels, I took a mixed bag of subjects, and I was very good at sports,” she said. 

Dawes was not aware of the various professions she could pursue with her varied interests and “just figured things out along the way.” After returning to Hong Kong from university, she joined Disney. She worked on projects adapting sing-along books and Disney content into Cantonese for the local market. She learnt about production and other aspects of the business before eventually returning to her family’s electronics company, where she spent six years learning how to run it.

She had no interest in technology or electronic products, and each time they attended trade shows overseas, her heart sank a little. “I had no passion for the subject matter at all, and when I saw other people talking about the specs of their specific products, their eyes lit up, and they could go on and on about it. My heart wasn’t in it at all. I was in the wrong industry, and I felt like an imposter who didn’t belong.”

Fortunately for Dawes, her wine-loving father sparked her interest in wine. The timing was perfect to open a wine bar in 2008, as the Hong Kong government had abolished all taxes on wine and beer. “My dad got an Enomatic wine-dispensing system, and during that time, it was a very new and innovative thing for Hong Kong, and I decided to open a wine bar in Central.”

Tastings Wine Bar (now closed) was among the first in Hong Kong to use the Enomatic system, offering 40 wines by the glass. She said, “There was something for everyone to try and discover, from different regions and at different price points.” It was also fortuitous timing, as the Hong Kong government imposed a ban on indoor smoking, making the environment more conducive to exploring and enjoying wine — without a side of cigarette smoke.

“The F&B industry was entirely new to me; there are a lot of moving parts, and I honestly don’t know how it all happened. I just powered through, learnt by trial and error, and made a lot of mistakes. I was fortunate to learn from the wine bar manager, who showed me the ropes. Like most things, I believe it’s luck, resilience, persistence, and a whole lot of effort and time,” shared Dawes, who — after many trials and tribulations — had to make tough decisions to close her wine bar, whisky bar, and, most recently, The Envoy this year after 10 years of operation.

Sincerity, humility and trust are values that Dawes upholds firmly. “When people know that you’re eager to do something, they will help you. When you’re still in your 20s, the stakes are lower, and people seem to have more patience.”

Under Dawes’s stewardship, The Tastings Group currently operates two cocktail bars — The Quinary and The Opposites — and three restaurants: one Michelin-starred VEA, Wing, and Medora; as well as a joint venture, Draftland Hong Kong, which serves cocktails on tap. In addition to running her F&B operations, Dawes wears many hats: she is a mentor at The Women’s Foundation Hong Kong, WSET Level 3 certified, often a judge at industry competitions, and an independent non-executive director of HKT, a publicly listed company.

Despite her restaurants and bars winning local and international accolades, Dawes prefers to stay low-key. “I am not self-praising; I don't need my identity tied to the success of my team. I think individuality is important; I don't need to be tied to the concepts."

She reiterates that it’s an unforgiving industry and trends shift quickly. Dawes believes she started at the right time and met the right partners and mentors to get the business off the ground. That remains true today; she has not rested on her laurels. Without ego or a need for control, Dawes’ key to success is working with people who can do the things she can’t and completely trusting her partners and teams.

Dawes relies heavily on gut feeling and trust in people, rather than following the usual route of market research. She laughed when asked about putting a stake in the ground and pioneering new concepts: “Sometimes, you’re the first because you’re stupid. But sometimes you’re able to understand where the trends are going — gut feeling, good timing, and luck!”

Spurred to learn more about cocktails and while searching for a consultant, Dawes met her business partner, Antonio Lai. “I am passionate about drinks. Cocktails are imagination and science. That’s what’s so fascinating.” In 2012, she opened her award-winning, multi-sensory cocktail bar, The Quinary, with Lai at the helm, serving innovative cocktails that incorporated molecular mixology

Before opening The Quinary, Dawes had brought some whiskies back from the UK and read an article in CLASS magazine that she remembers clearly, The King of Garnish, about Marian Beke (one of the most innovative minds in mixology). Lai had just completed an internship at 69 Colebrooke Row, using culinary equipment to make cocktails and produce exciting flavours. “It was so interesting for me to talk to somebody who was so intrigued with using different methods to present something in his own style and way," she said. "One thing led to another, and we opened The Quinary in 2012.”

People are at the heart of all Dawes’ projects. “I am good at believing in people. When I see people totally dedicated to their work, and they love what they do, their eyes light up, and you can see the pure passion, which is the core of the F&B business. You'll also need to have some business acumen as you dedicate your life to the tireless work. I love working with bright individuals like Antonio and chef Vicky Cheng, who are passionate about their craft. Their energy is what struck me in the beginning; they clearly love what they do.”

Just as Dawes pioneered one of Hong Kong’s first Enomatic wine bars, she went on to open Origin in 2013 (closed in 2024), one of the city’s first gin bars, with Lai. She quickly pivoted when the concept failed to gain traction. She shared: “We realised about eight months in we needed more approachable drinks and fun cocktails, as people were not as interested in G&Ts. However, in 2015, we drew the focus back to G&Ts as it was gaining popularity in the city. I realised it was more about changing people’s perception of gin than giving them total control.”

Dawes began her business partnerships with chef Cheng and Lai over a decade ago, and everyone was single, young, and hungry. Today, all of them are raising young families, and the pace and priorities of work have changed, as they’ve put in the hard work to establish the foundation.

On owning three restaurants, Dawes said: “I'm not necessarily passionate about opening restaurants; I am passionate about the people and what they do. A restaurant has a lot of moving parts. If it weren't for someone like chef Cheng (co-owner of VEA, Medora, and Wing restaurants), I wouldn't have opened my own restaurants. It was more about wanting to open a restaurant with him. I have no desire to become a restaurateur."

It seems that passion, drive, timing, and the right people have serendipitously crossed Dawes’ path. Like most proprietors in the F&B industry, Dawes offers this advice: “Don’t do it. People often forget that it’s a 24/7 job, and it’s similar to being in a relationship. It can go really well, but you still have to keep things interesting. You can’t be complacent, especially in a city like Hong Kong.”

Dawes lives by a simple motto: Constantly try new things and keep learning. Whenever she is given an opportunity, she takes it and learns something new — trusting that, over time, she will become good at it.”

Dawes also credits her husband, Ricky Jim, who joined her in the business during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a strong proponent of upskilling and continuous learning to better understand all aspects of the company. The same ethos guides training and staff development, giving teams platforms and opportunities to grow — whether through international guest-shift exchanges at bars, four-hands collaborations, or participation in competitions — which contribute to their high staff-retention rates in a fickle and volatile industry.