Drink in the collection

Drink in the collection (+ photos)
5:00AM Friday February 01, 2008
By Cathrin Schaer


Russell Green. Photo / Babiche Martens.

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When Russell Green, owner of the richly decorated Auckland bar Shanghai Lil's, was 7, he got into a lot of trouble over some spare cash he'd been given.

"I spent the 20 cents that I was given on an old gramophone," confesses Green. "And really," he chuckles, "that was where it all began."

By "it", Green, who worked as a chef for 30 years before turning to bar ownership, means collecting.

Over the following years his passion for the unusual, the vintage and collectible has grown.

Not everything he had could be fitted into his living quarters and a lot of Green's purchases were in storage.

"So we decided it was time to put them to some use."

Green decorated Shanghai Lil's using Green's various objets d'art, furniture and other fittings.

Today the bar, near Victoria Park market and next to the Birdcage Tavern, is patronised by the rich and famous, the bohemian and art students alike.

"I like the idea that it's a place where people of different generations, backgrounds and ideas meet and then feel like they've gone away, having had a different sort of experience."
FAVOURITE THINGS

1. Chandeliers: They have made a comeback and deserve to. Mine sits on top of a Chinese cabinet in Lil's.

2. Our car, an MGTF 1500, 1954: It's designed like a real sports car should be and it's been in the family since it was brand new.

3. The Birdcage Tavern: Formerly the Rob Roy, it now houses Shanghai Lil's. It is admired worldwide and is one of the few hotels built in the mid-1880s still standing in Auckland. Before this land was reclaimed, the water actually used to come right up the door and the pub was named for a ship called the Rob Roy that sank in the harbour.

4. Auckland Museum: Architect Noel Lane has shown that older buildings can be adapted for today. We should keep an eye on the Art Gallery and the St James Theatre because I think old buildings can retain their organic flavour without losing their integrity. Buildings can be adapted as long as it's done with sensitivity.

5. 42 Below: Besides being a great vodka, the design of the packaging is superb. When I was in Shanghai recently most of the cocktails in the Glamour Bar - it's on a rooftop on the historic Bund - were made using it.

6. Our own lounge at home: It's taught me that with design, buy what you love. Every piece is as important as any other.


7. Air New Zealand Fashion Week: It has shown us there is great individual fashion design that's unique to New Zealand and up to world standards. A lot of my decorating ideas come from visiting women's fashion shops, actually - from the interiors of the shops to the fabrics used. My favourites are Yvonne Bennetti, Trelise Cooper, Karen Walker and Lucy Boshier. All have that wow factor.

8. Erte, born 1892: He was Romain de Tirtoff, a White Russian who, as a graphic artist, designed for Harper's Bazaar in the 1920s and designed dresses for Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. I'm a great admirer and I own five of his graphics that came to New Zealand with Michael Barrymore.

9. The Sad Pianist: A fascinating book written and designed by Diana Wong. It's a photographic retrospect of local Aucklanders, many of whom went on to greatness. The artwork is by a local artist, John Holmwood. The book was also adapted into a home movie which used cast members from the book.

10. Antique Navajo, silver and turquoise jewellery: I recently inherited a collection of antique jewellery. The artisan has designed the pieces to represent snakes and other things with mystic and spiritual meaning.