Celebrity Life

From the team behind Michelin-starred Endo at the Rotunda, SUMI is the casual yet elegant little sister to Endo Kazutoshi’s eponymous White City restaurant, offering elevated neighbourhood dining, and authentic yet inventive Japanese cuisine, with head chef Yasuda Akinori at the helm. Having previously worked with Endo for a number of years at Zuma, Yasuda’s devotion to craft and quality […]

With extensive experience working in a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, including Eleven Madison Park in New York, Matthew Whitfield returns as head chef at the award-winning three AA Rosette Terrace Restaurant at The Montagu Arms in Brockenhurst. Passionate about creating a theatrical and memorable experience for every guest, Whitfield is responsible for the menus at […]

Newly appointed head chef Michael Carr of refined-dining Fenchurch on level 37 of Sky Garden in London, at only 29 years old, brings over 14 years of culinary excellence gleaned in some of London and Yorkshire’s best Michelin-starred restaurants with him to the destination restaurant. Showcasing his gastronomic flair, the former Great British Menu contestant’s […]

Mattia Agazzi is bringing the breadth of his cooking experience into the new context of California and Los Angeles. For a chef that is ingredient-led and whose Italian background provides a foundation for creativity, LA and Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura Beverly Hills are a natural home for Mattia and his approach to food and […]

As a contemporary Chinese chef with 25 years’ experience in Cantonese and Asian cuisine at the highest level, chef Daren Liew is an enthusiastic and passionate leader whose love of food extends beyond the kitchen. Whether in a high-volume, a la carte menu kitchen or a banquet service catering for thousands, chef Daren can perform […]

With over 10 years’ senior level experience working at multi-Rosette and Michelin star establishments in the UK and Australia, Marc Hardiman remains committed to delivering next level dining experiences for customers whilst constantly innovating and experimenting, looking for ways to improve and remain at the top of his game. Hardiman will be at the helm of […]

After studying for a law degree in 2011, Dan McGeorge decided it was time for a completely new career path, so he headed to Liverpool Community College to develop his passion for cooking. Dan has worked in several high-profile kitchens including The Bath Priory under executive chef Sam Moody and under Ben Mounsey at modern […]

After serving elevated cuisine in Asia for eight years, executive chef Antonio Oviedo recently started something of a buzzing revolution at 22 Ships in Wanchai.

When the Jia Group decided to refresh its intimate restaurant-cum-bar, as well as a brightening its interior it also installed Oviedo, a veteran of some of the greatest teams in Spanish and modern cuisine, along with his newly picked team.

“I started to develop the new concept for 22 Ships in May,” says Madrid-raised Oviedo. “We wanted to have a place that’s like a real Spanish tapas bar, with aperitifs and fresh dishes that change all the time – to bring all the bites from Madrid and other cities where this scene serves super stuff, and to source premium ingredients from the greater area of Spain.

[caption id="attachment_212250" align="aligncenter" width="567"] Antonio Oviedo is the new executive chef at 22 Ships.[/caption]

“We’re trying to be authentic,” he says; “I think there’s a lack of authenticity in some restaurants here – not only Spanish ones. They try to change dishes for the local palate; that’s cool, but then you lose the [genuine] concept.”

Oviedo, whose initial foray into the Hong Kong dining scene began on his arrival from Singapore – he’d worked there as sous chef at the multi-awarded European-style restaurant Iggy’s, and as group executive chef at Una and The Garage – does concede to the regional preference for less salt in savoury dishes. In fact, he says, “In our seafood paellas we get so much flavour from ancient recipes using roasted lobster heads, tomatoes, almonds and dried peppers in the stock that we don’t need any salt at all.”

On the evening I visit, a paella of ultra-red-shelled Mediterranean Carabineros prawn with salmorreta sauce (a pungent paste recipe from Alicante, comprising dried ñora pepper, olive oil, garlic, parsley and tomato) has the requisite wow-factor intensity of flavour and umami quality – and all without salt. Rotated seafood rice-pan regulars include blue lobster with salmorreta, and grilled octopus with black ink-enhanced grains.

[caption id="attachment_212241" align="aligncenter" width="765"] Carabinero paella with salmorreta.[/caption]

To help ensure both kitchen quality and an upbeat vibe with diners, Oviedo enlisted Nick Gellon, a former staffer in his previous private kitchen and catering operation. “It was in the middle of the pandemic and Nick was working in Switzerland,” explains Ovivedo, “so it was very difficult to bring him over, but he made it five days before we opened. That was a relief, as it’s difficult to find committed people.”

A chalk board announces the restaurant’s frequently changing specials, from snacks to tapas, mains, cheeses and vermouth sodas, many of which have a contemporary savoury edge. The intimate yet vibrant new interior provides a backdrop to an open-kitchen bar counter, a prime spot to watch and engage with the new culinary and bar team. Around the counter and dining-room tables, restaurant manager and sommelier Alice Douine offers accessible information on wines, citric-foam topped white or red glasses of sangria and house- made spirit infusions.

[caption id="attachment_212242" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Bar-style seating at 22 Ships.[/caption]

With authentic flavours being served, then what – one might wonder – has the local palate best responded to in the few months since opening? “For the Hong Kong locals, the uni [sea urchin] and suckling pig have been very popular,” says Oviedo, enthusiastically. “They love both of these – and all seafood.” He’s referring specifically to the restaurant’s Rusa and sea urchin on toast, and the roast suckling pig – a large main-course sharing platter. Rusa refers to Spain’s popular potato-based “Russian salad”, sometimes featuring seafood, of which 22 Ships presents a very refined take.

When it comes to seafood, few dishes could be more Spanish than anchovies and sardines – though here they’re served with finesse. Take the cold ajo blanco almond-and-garlic soup, for instance, served with sliced Muscat grapes, just as it is in Malaga; Oviedo, however, tops it with grilled sardines, also enjoyed in the same region, adding herb- and spice-infused floating green and red drops to the white liquid for flavoursome and visual effect. Marcona almonds were originally brought to Spain by Tunisian and other immigrants from North Africa, who introduced the soup. Boletus mushroom and béchamel sauce croquettes have an airier quality than many served in Spain and are topped with fine aged Ibérico ham.

[gallery ids="212248,212244,212247,212243"]

Oviedo has bolstered the selection of small-production cold cuts – Ibérico hams and salamis – and cheeses, many of which are unpasteurised and all of which result from a tireless sourcing process. These can be enjoyed as a prelude to dinnertime during la hora del vermut (“vermouth hour”), where cocktails, wine, citric-foam-topped sangria and house vermouth sodas are served with prepared snacks and tapas. Oviedo thinks this Spanish habit isn’t truly replicated anywhere else in town – note that there’s no lunch service here: with dinner preparations from scratch beginning around noon and lasting six to eight hours, there’s simply no time.

Back to the small plates for dinner, a moreish starter dish is the Rubia beef tartare, made with prized meat from north-western Galicia that’s aged for more than 90 days; its lasting robust flavour makes Douine’s wine pairing with the Catalonian 2018 Xarel-lo Ca N’Estruc, L’Equilibrista, an intriguing one: a young white wine with such structure and length that it was in perfect balance with the seasoned aged raw red meat.

This grape – it’s a key component in Cava – also goes well with the house signature main of suckling pig with grilled gem lettuce and pomegranate. Like the Manchego lamb-shoulder main, the pork is slow-roasted for 24 hours and the meat falls off the bone. With the delicate lamb, Ninja de las Uvas, a light 2018 Garnacha (Grenache) red from the Bullas region by natural wine-maker Julia Casado, is a perfect match.

[gallery ids="212245,212249"]

Try to save room for dessert. The Basque cheesecake uses sheep’s- milk Idiazabal, a smoked cheese produced close to Oviedo’s father’s birthplace in Navarre. The smokiness of the cheese is further enhanced by being baked in a charcoal oven. For a lighter finish, lemon sorbet blended with Cava is zingy with a slight granita-like texture, topped with soft meringue. Both these sweets are ample for two to share.

Oviedo has certainly worked with some of the past and present greats of Spanish cuisine. So what stays with him from his time working with late Santi Santamaria – known for his classic Spanish recipes – and the Roca brothers – who helped elevate the nation’s modern culinary repertoire for years? “Santi Santamaria had a great traditional knowledge; his background was training in French cooking, so his way of thinking was very well organised,” recalls Oviedo. “I learned a lot about details in preparation from him. The Roca brothers were my first real chance to experiment with traditional Spanish dishes and bringing other ingredients and techniques into Spanish food.”

[caption id="attachment_212246" align="alignnone" width="900"] Basque cheesecake.[/caption]

Lessons didn’t stop there. Oviedo was also able to garner insights from other highly regarded kitchen heads and their teams. But his involvement and memories of cooking stretch back to childhood. “When I grew up, time was always spent around the kitchen table – I peeled garlic from a young age to help my mother. My grandmother, who was from the north of Spain, taught my mum how to cook some dishes. My mum came from the south, so this gave her an amazing selection of recipes. And the concept I have here of multi-regional tapas came from that.”

It’s been tough opening in summer 2020, but the plan remains just as it was at the start. “We opened in the middle of the third wave of Covid, so we’re still on our first menu, but we change two or three dishes every day,” assures Oviedo. “Sometimes the staff get mad at me because I try a new dish during preparation and then put it on the menu 30 minutes before we open – so we have quick training on it all together. But that’s what we’re about and I can see people are appreciating our produce and new ideas.”

The post Chef Antonio Oviedo on Dishing Out Hearty Tapas and Pursuing Authenticity at 22 Ships appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Chef Angelo Agliano hits his stride with the bright flavours of Italy's Mezzogiorno and other worldly influences, at Tosca Di Angelo.

Operating in fits and starts during Hong Kong’s lengthy pandemic restrictions and navigating diner-number fluctuations during 2019 were just some of the challenges for Angelo Agliano, director of Tosca di Angelo, who took the helm of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong’s Italian restaurant last January.

“I brought six of my previous team to work with me,” recalls the Sicilian. “I knew I was going to make a lot of changes and for those staff who are already there, it’s always hard when a new chef comes in and does things differently. I wanted to have the support of those who knew my way of cooking.” Challenges were duly met, according to the Michelin inspectors: the restaurant was awarded one star for the 2020 guide for Hong Kong and Macau.

[caption id="attachment_211209" align="aligncenter" width="766"] Chef Angelo Agliano. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

Adding Agliano’s name to that of the restaurant makes it quite clear to diners that the restaurant has morphed into something significantly different from previous incarnations under other chefs. The menu’s transformation was inevitable: Not only does Agliano have Mediterranean culinary experience that started at the age of 14 but, for more than two decades, he’s also worked in top-tier restaurant kitchens across Europe, and – in recent years – in Hong Kong and Taiwan, developing a deep understanding of local preferences in the world of elevated dining.

Agliano’s skillset includes pointers from Japanese sushi chefs for preparing seafood. “My parents and grandparents went fishing in Sicily and cooked with seafood, but when I studied how Japanese chefs use their knives to slice tuna, I knew I had start again.”

[caption id="attachment_211214" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tosca di Angelo's interior. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

Working for the late Joël Robuchon in France, Agliano helped lead the launch of L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon dining rooms in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In 2016, after seven years with Robuchon, Agliano deemed it time to launch his own restaurants, first in Taipei then here in Happy Valley. The local dining room Locanda dell’Angelo was, he says, “cosy, with my original Sicilian recipes that were quite traditional in style. When I started at Ritz-Carlton, I was still going there once a week for a while before friends of mine took it over.”

One bright lunchtime this September, the day before Hong Kong’s Covid dining restrictions were relaxed from two diners per table to four, the amuse-bouche of ricotta mousse, topped with Sicilian tomato gazpacho, paired beautifully with a deep gold-hued, bone-dry Vigne Olcru Veuve 2014 pinot noir blanc de noirs. This wine also holds up well against two of this restaurant’s starters with some robust elements: blue lobster – slightly poached with Sicilian peach, cherry-tomato confit and Kaluga Caviar; and the chef’s signature lean delicately-flavoured Fassona beef carpaccio with light mustard, 24-month-aged Parmesan cheese, artichoke and arugula.

[caption id="attachment_211208" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Risotto with sea urchin. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

One of Agliano’s most-talked-about signatures is his risotto with Hokkaido sea urchin. Although the Mediterranean species of this shellfish is occasionally used in pasta dishes, Tosca di Angelo’s version is something completely different. For a start, the Japanese variety is far plumper, sweeter and creamier, with less zinging minerality than its European cousins.

“This dish, for me, is the best that I have made from a combination of ingredients from Italy and Asia,” he enthuses. Agliano concocted its first prototype in Hong Kong while at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. “When Robuchon tasted it, he told me that we must have this on the menu.”

Agliano uses a touch of fresh wasabi, and a garnish of either local choy sum or gai lan green vegetables for some bitterness in the flavour balance. “Rice, though, must be from Italy,” he adds, with a smile. “I’ve tried Japanese rice and all other kinds, but it’s just not the same – what can I say? I’m Italian.”

The most unadulterated Sicilian dish on the menu is Mediterranean red-star grouper in Matalotta fish soup with olives, capers and cherry tomatoes. “It comes from memories of my grandmother making this on Sundays for our family,” says Agliano. “But first, I cook it in a Japanese way – with a bamboo steamer over jasmine tea and spices like cloves, star anise and cardamom. In the soup, my ingredients are all from Sicily: Green olives, capers, the tomatoes; the stock comes from the head and bones of the fish.”

[caption id="attachment_211210" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Matalotta fish soup with Mediterranean red-star grouper, olives, capers and cherry tomatoes. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

Dessert-minded folk: If you’re not excited by the prospect of tiramisu, challenge yourselves – you’ll be rewarded. The contrast of texture within the layered glass bowl is enjoyable, as crunchy biscuit plays against decadent creaminess. And instead of a big kick of fortified Marsala wine, the alcohol content is subtle. The biscuit crunch and a super-light mascarpone top layer, dusted with hand-grated chocolate (rather than powder) are all down to this being an à-la-minute dessert, rather than pre-made. It’s served with an espresso granita. For a much lighter sweet finish, consider the mixed fruit salad with yuzu sorbet and blood-orange coulis.

The cheese trolley also deserves a mention, laden with both cow’s- and sheep’s-milk varieties; from creamy to hard and blue, at least half are Italian and the rest are French.

So how does Agliano sum up his cuisine now and in the future? “I always see French cuisine as ‘square’ – Japanese cooking is like that, too: very ordered and careful,” he reflects. “Italian chefs are more like a circle – we don’t like to measure quantities or look at timings too much. I’ve worked in French and Italian restaurants and in Asia, so I have a mixed way of thinking in my kitchen. I don’t want people I work with to feel like machines; I want them to be creative and feel part of the team – and make everything as if they’re serving it for their family. That’s one of the things I took from my time with Robouchon.

[caption id="attachment_211212" align="aligncenter" width="783"] To-die-for tiramisu. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

“I want people to have a dynamic experience here,” he says. “It took us a year to really find our way with our menu. We had to open and close a few times since the beginning of the year. But from April when we re-opened we’ve been full and had very positive feedback from customers who hadn’t been here for a few years.”

Other pandemic responses included re-jigging a substantial take-away menu as demand increased; and launching a Cook at Home programme – to send chefs from the restaurant to prepare and serve a Tosca di Angelo-level meal at a requested residence – which has proved so popular it’s set to continue.

“I really want to transmit something exciting to those who eat my food,” says Chef Angelo of his wider aspirations for this restaurant, “and also to the chefs in my kitchen.”

The post Chef Angelo Agliano Serves Up Bold, Beautiful Italian Flavours at Tosca Di Angelo appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Fifty metres underground — this is the depth that local winemakers chose when they decided to store 10,000 wine bottles in the Aven d'Orgnac caves, an underground tourist attraction located at the southern end of the limestone plateau of the Gorges de l'Ardèche.

The experiment began in March 2018, when a new storage facility was specially created in a disused access tunnel to allow wine to mature in what amounts to a highly stable and peaceful environment.

A living product that ages best in undisturbed darkness, the wine will have benefited from ideal conditions: A constant temperature of around 12°C and an all-year-long rate of humidity of over 95%.

On December 12, 1,000 bottles of Côtes du Vivarais "Grand Aven 2017" from this treasure trove will be passed from hand to hand by a chain of human volunteers who will bring them back to the surface after two years underground. Thereafter, they will go under the hammer with a range of other local vintages in an auction with modest reserve prices.

Lots on offer will include 150 magnums of Terra Helvorum 2017 starting at 30 euros, 350 bottles of 2015 Terra Helvorum for as little as 15 euros and 350 bottles of Grand Aven 2016 from just 10 euros.

On land and sea

These days, experiments to store wine deep underground are very much in vogue in France. On June 3 of this year, 500 bottles were placed in racks at a depth of 103 metres in caves in Padirac under the watchful eye of Serge Dubs, the Best Sommelier of the World in 1989.

The first of these to return to the surface will be brought up for an initial tasting in the spring of 2021. And let's not forget that this experiment is focused on a very particular wine: A Clos Triguedina Cahors, christened Cuvée Probus, which has been produced to honour the 130-year anniversary of the Padirac Chasm.

Surprisingly enough, this new approach to maturing wine was initially inspired by a find at sea. In 2010, divers in the Baltic discovered a wreck containing what turned out to be a cargo of champagne, which was probably on its way to 1840s Russia.

The wave of experimentation that is now ongoing began when the bubbly, which was made by such houses as Veuve Clicquot, Heidsieck and the now defunct Juglar, was discovered to still be delicious after some 170 years under water.

In Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the French Basque country, winemaker Emmanuel Poirmeur has registered a patent for a process that involves vinifying wine in special vats at a depth of 15 metres under water. For its part, Leclerc-Briant set a record when it vinified one of its champagnes at a depth of 60 meters under the Atlantic in 2012, not surprisingly the vintage was christened "Abyss."

The post Chef Tiff Lo on Her French Bistro Jean May and Tales of Blood, Sweat and Tears appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Hansik Goo is Hong Kong's newest modern Korean restaurant that will make you think differently about its cuisine.

My appreciation of Korean food stems from two years spent in Seoul discovering, and vigorously eating my way through, its varied cuisine which is deeply rooted in its traditions and heritage. It's a fascinating cuisine to explore, and one that goes far beyond the barbecues and fried chicken that most are familiar with. From the diverse range of side dishes, or banchan, that is part and parcel of all meals, to the foundation of sauces, or jang, that defines the cuisine. Not to mention all the beautifully preserved and fermented dishes such as kimchi in which there are over 100 different types.

So when I was told that a new modern Korean restaurant was landing in Hong Kong, I was more than excited for its arrival. What's more, it is helmed by award winning chef Mingoo Kang of Seoul’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant Mingles. Hansik Goo, a collaboration with ZS Hospitality, is the new Korean restaurant I've been asking the food gods for: a restaurant that brings contemporary Korean cuisine, inspired by all of its traditions and full of playful twists and elevated flavours, to really showcase the food that I know and love.

To find out more, we took a moment with Chef Mingoo Kang to ask about the essence of Korean cuisine, what the new restaurant is all about and how it came to be.

[caption id="attachment_209104" align="alignnone" width="1228"] Chef Mingoo Kang of Mingles in Seoul and Hansik Goo in Hong Kong[/caption]

The post Chef Mingoo Kang of Hansik Goo on a Modern Korean Cuisine That Goes Beyond Fried Chicken and BBQ appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Championing his unique Chinese-French cuisine at one-Michelin-star restaurant VEA, chef and co-owner Vicky Cheng is considered one of the more creative culinary minds in Hong Kong. He tells us how this unlikely pairing of two diverse traditions arose.

[bc_video video_id="6174634692001" account_id="5537314740001" player_id="HkciYHERZ" embed="in-page" padding_top="56%" autoplay="" min_width="0px" playsinline="" picture_in_picture="" max_width="640px" mute="" width="100%" height="100%" ]

For some reason, unbeknown to me, the forbidden F-word (otherwise known as fusion) is still considered offensive in the culinary world. Describing two or more cuisines that have merged in a deliberate manner, fusion has a bad rap for being, well, so often bad.
First coined in the late 1980s, fusion and the cuisine that followed it gave birth to a plethora of gimmicky foods that had no place on our plates nor palates. We can indeed all live quite happily without the diabolical ramen-burger, yet fusion need not be such a taboo.
After all, its roots go back centuries – since trade began, in fact, when cultures connected, people mingled and foods or ingredients overlapped in cuisines enhanced by diversity. For me, this is the most apparent in Asian-influenced fusion, such as that of chef Vicky Cheng’s “Chinese x French” cuisine at VEA.
Hong Kong born but Canadian raised, Cheng is a fusion of sorts himself. But not until much later in life did he lean on this connection.

You might not expect such friendliness from an ambitious and successful chef like Cheng. But when I meet him in person, I realise that he’s both considerate and affable, even with his own team. The mantra “teamwork makes the dream work" is emblazoned on the kitchen wall and serves as a constant reminder that the restaurant’s success is based on their collective efforts.
VEA has been awarded one Michelin star for four consecutive years since 2017, and currently ranks in 12th place on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2020 list, thanks to the execution of Cheng’s inventive cuisine. “It’s simple,” Cheng explains. “Four years ago, we created what we label as Chinese x French cuisine, which basically takes all of the traditional French techniques that I’ve learned and then combines it with Chinese ingredients, philosophy and -- sometimes -- technique.”

Describing how he pulled the two together, Cheng confesses “growing up, I didn’t care too much for Chinese food. I’m Chinese, but my focus was always in French cooking. I thought that it was the best cuisine. I thought French cuisine meant fine dining, so that’s all I wanted to do.”
No wonder, then, that he chose to train in classic French cuisine, even though it was tough. He then went on to work with top chefs, including Jason Bangerter of Auberge du Pommier, Anthony Walsh of Canoe in Toronto and Daniel Boulud of the French fine-dining restaurant Daniel in New York. Thereafter, a need to renew his Hong Kong identity card resulted in Cheng relocating here in 2011, when he was appointed as executive chef for the now-defunct Liberty Private Works.
After a few years of working and living in Hong Kong, Cheng’s interest in Chinese cuisine gained momentum and eventually led him to open VEA. “It didn’t take me too long to say, 'OK, let’s do Chinese and French...’ I’m good at French cooking and I’m Chinese. My wife is Chinese, I’m eating a lot of Chinese food and looking for Chinese restaurants versus French restaurants now.”
For Cheng, Chinese cuisine became a subject of fascination. The somewhat elusive wok hei (or smoky and charred aroma that’s achieved by using a wok), the flavour combinations and the ingredients were all things he couldn’t even imagine while only focused on French cuisine.

Like the vast land it hails from, Chinese cuisine is broad and its diverse nature enabled Cheng to explore numerous regions that sparked intrigue. He adds, “I take a lot of inspiration from Cantonese cuisine, but at the same time I’m inspired by Chiu Chow cuisine, because my dad is from there. And Shanghainese cuisine, as my mother is Shanghainese.”It’s with these influences that Cheng loads his curiosity to learn more and gain knowledge, before merging different aspects of different cuisines to amplify a dish; bringing together flavour, spice, aroma and texture in a truly original combination.
He uses the Chinese braised sea cucumber as an example. “I love it this kind of texture and flavour,” he says, “but I understand how it can be difficult for people to get [or accept].”
This is the challenge that Cheng decided to take on. His solution: use one cuisine to influence the other and forge a bridge, or connection, between them. “I think with me telling the story of Chinese cuisine, it’s more easily accepted... I’m trying to amplify the technique, ingredients and possibilities of Chinese cuisine through the lens of French cuisine, so that it may be experienced in a different way, and therefore understood.”

Other examples of Cheng’s fused amalgamations can be found in dishes such as the Japanese mackerel, crowned with ribbons of crispy celtuce and pear, accented with Chinese aromatics and pops of ginger-infused salmon roe, and finished with cold-pressed pear juice; a take on a classic Chinese vermicelli dish, which uses spiny lobster poached in a citrus beurre monte, paired with a confit onion ring, stir-fried vermicelli, lobster roe, pickled garlic and a lobster consommé.
Then there is the signature abalone pithivier, which uses Japanese 27-head dried abalone, braised traditionally in master stock, with sweetbread wrapped in spinach mousse and buttery puff pastry; an interpretation of the traditional Chiuchow-style duck, which is reincarnated as the 14-day aged Racan pigeon from France smoked with sugarcane pulp from Kung Lee herbal tea shop on Hollywood Road, and topped with a crunchy sugarcane glaze, amaranth and pigeon jus.
Among the desserts is the chilled melon sago-inspired dessert that features sweet muskmelon from Shizuoka in Japan, layered with a rich Hokkaido milk panna cotta and double-boiled rock-sugar bird’s nest.

Meanwhile, in the sleek 29th-floor bar lounge, award-winning mixologist Antonio Lai showcases cocktails that fuse different flavour profiles. Take for example the flamboyantly presented, mezcal-based signature cocktail, the Cleopatra Formosa, which blends a silky texture with smoky aromatics and tropical flavours; the Hong Kong-inspired Mango Pomelo, which brings the summertime dessert to life with rum mingled with tropical fruits and coconut; or the more refined Cashew Ramos, which uses single-malt genever and gin, shaken with cashew milk for a malty version of the traditional Ramos gin fizz.
As I end the interview at VEA, I come to the conclusion that although fusion, in cuisine and culture, is not anything new, the creative connections, innovations and subsequently, advanced experiences in modern cuisine are, and thus, in my opinion, should be always be celebrated.

The post When Cuisines Collide: Vicky Cheng of VEA on His Chinese-French Cuisine appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.