Canto x Chiuchow

I was a Ming Court Wanchai a couple of weeks for the special collaboration event featuring the dishes created by their Chef Tsang Chiu King and guest chef Cheung Yat Fung from Beijing's Michelin 3-starred Chao Shang Chao Restaurant. 

Dinner for Dinner

Good that our friend P has made a booking to dine at Mandarin Grill for the Dinner by Heston pop-up event before it's all sold out and asked us to come along. Chef Heston Blumenthal didn't come this time for the 4-day event, but their executive chef Deiniol Pritchard was around to introduce a few classic dishes from the restaurant located inside the legendary Mandarin Oriental London. 

Eight Slices Tasting Menu

We have had tasting menus of different themes before but I believe this is the first time we have a "Menu Degustazione" around pizzas. We made the booking as soon as we heard the Pizza Bar on 58th at Mandarin Oriental Tokyo is doing a popup at Landmark Mandarin and very happy that we did - soon enough it was booked out. 

Antimo x Maxime

I wasn’t surprised the latest Tatler Dining Kitchen installment was sold out within hours – I was actually more surprised that I managed to read the announcement of the event at the right time and fetched two of the handful seats while still available. 

The great team of Tatler Dining Hong Kong has put together this series of one-off dining events featuring some of the best talents in town (or overseas) with special menu not normally available elsewhere. I have been to a few of those last year when they did that in an exclusive venue space in Central with all of them nothing short of memorable, and this time around, it’s held at Kin Food Hall, the casual dining space right in my hood, as if I need more reasons to visit again. 

Cuisine from the East

We came to learn more about Chef Samaira's food for the first time at a pop-up event last year, and since then, have seen this home chef turned professional bloomed with a few more popular cooking events under her belt. Recently I was invited to try her food again, at her latest gig at Tatler Dining Kitchen, where she presented a refined East Indian menu with champagne pairing by Perrier-Jouet. 

Unagi Part 2: Uza x Tatler Dining Kitchen

I have enjoyed quite a few pop-up dinners at the lovely Tatler Dining Kitchen lately, and I got to say the latest installment was the one I anticipated the most with our friend A taking over for a 2-week engagement with his new dining concept Uza and a tasting menu combining Unagi (freshwater eel) and Izakaya (Japanese pub) cuisines (hence the name)

Shane x Tatler

For those who have tried Chef Shane Osborn’s food over the years (or at least watched him cooking in the reality TV show The Final Table a few years ago), it’s hard not to immediately fall in love with his consistent, straight-forward but creative cooking. We were at one of his pop-up dinners at Tatler Dining Kitchen early last month, a warm-up event of sort before his third restaurant opens (in September, I think), and once again, enjoyed his food tremendously. 

Gin Dinner

I don't know what got my attention first, whether it's the chance to preview a soon-to-be-opened restaurant or the unusual pairing of food with gin from one of my favorite makers, but anyway, this is our first time sitting down for a proper meal at Sake Central at PMQ, prepared by guest chef Shun Sato with a special menu paired with bottles from the Kyoto-based artisanal gin distillery Ki No Bi during their month-long pop-up promotion. 

The First Taste

Once in a blue moon I was lucky enough to be given a sneak preview of something before everyone else – this time it’s for the soon-to-be-launched Tatler Dining Kitchen series by chef Antimo Maria Merone at the brand new venue at HAUS on Queen’s Road Central. 

The Last Supper

When we planned for this meal a few weeks ago little did we know it turned out to be our last dinner at a restaurant for a while. Our friend Suveg told us about this pop-up Bombay East Indian dinner series hosted by his wife Samaira – we immediately signed up for a table, partly because I wanted to support a aspiring new chef and partly because I am curious what “Bombay East Indian” cuisine is about. 

Young Chef's Pop-up Menu

We recently went back to visit PMQ Taste Kitchen to check out the latest pop-up menu from a local young chef. Biased as I might be, I always love this idea of restaurant incubator concept (managed by our friends J and C) that allows new chefs to test out new recipes and business ideas with full set-up and operational support, and we were always surprised (and impressed) from the few visits we made previously.

Burmese Pop Up

I was intrigued when I found out that The Pansodan from Yangon is opening a pop-up in Hong Kong for a 3-month stint. Food was one thing I found particularly memorable when I travelled to Myanmar for the first time last year, and I was curious how this pop-up will fare combining local and imported ingredients with local Burmese cooking, and given a further twist by this modern-style bistro originally located in one of the busiest streets in downtown Yangon and that happened to be the restaurant’s namesake too.

Dinner at an Art Exhibition

The neighborhood of Quarry Bay is hardly a foodie destination but recently we were there at two separate occasions within the same week for quite some interesting dining experience. Just a few days after the spectacular Great Farm Feast dinner held at a makeshift dining room on a footbridge, this time, it’s a special dinner held as part of the Beyond Fashion exhibition at the Artistree space in Taikoo Place.

A True Collaboration

We are always huge fans of Tong Chong Street Market, the Sunday farmer’s market started a few years ago by our friend J, which brings the best produce from local farms right to the backyard of our neighborhood. I love the idea of browsing around the stalls, learning more about all the wonderful stuff grown right here in Hong Kong and knowing the farmers who take good care of them – to me that’s where cooking starts. And last Sunday, the market went one step further, and together with the equally wonderful T.Dining team, hosted a one-night-only dinner event featuring the top local food and top local chefs.

Chef Vs (Paella) Pan

I did say it would be a long while before I will even consider doing the “chef gig” thing again since my “debut” at PMQ Taste Kitchen a few months ago. But when Chef Alex Fargas and his team approached me to be the guest chef for the weekend brunch menu at his restaurant La Paloma, it seems like a project having too much fun to say no to. The restaurant in Sai Ying Pun, with the promise of serving “Sexy Tapas”, has been doing this “Chef Vs Pan” series for a while, in which once a month one outside chef would come in to deliver his/her version of paella (using the giant 40-inch pan) and roast suckling pig as part of their weekend brunch menu.

PMQ Taste Kitchen Experience: After

"Will you do it again?" is the question I was asked most often after my brief stint at the PMQ Taste Kitchen was dusted and over. For the first few times I thought about that, feeling totally shattered after consecutive days of clocking 18 hours standing in the kitchen or running around, I was like… "no freaking way!" and I was just happy to play my old role of judging and criticizing chefs instead of being one.

PMQ Taste Kitchen Experience: During

"Service!"… midway through the PMQ Taste Kitchen pop-up event I was still getting used to the notion that someone would come to assist (almost) immediately in the kitchen once the dishes were plated and ready to serve - sometimes I wish it's like that at home. Rewinding a few days back, as the dates of the pop-up approached, I began to feel the pressure as the seats starting to fill up even before we posted the menu and other details online. At the same time, everything else appears to be on schedule - that gave me some sense of comfort until the "real fun" began (or all hell broke loose, depends on how you see it) when we opened for business.

PMQ Taste Kitchen Experience: Before

"Food is so good that you should open your own restaurant!" – any amateur cook who hosted dinner party at home must have heard compliments like this from time to time. While I believe in my case many of those comments were made only out of appreciation for the effort rather than merits, it does made me wonder what it is like working in a kitchen in a real restaurant other than my own home's. And that random thought, plus an unplanned meet-up and chat with my friends J and D one afternoon led to myself taking over a pop-up restaurant for a few days in May.

Visiting Sushi Chef

"The name sounds familiar…" I told myself when I saw the online post about the pop-up dinner in town featuring chef from Ginza Sushi Aoki, and only after checking my picture album I realized I did visit the restaurant in Tokyo some years ago during one of my business trips. Obviously that meal didn’t leave much an impression for me (otherwise I would have recalled that easily) but I was happy to enjoy an evening at FUMI in Lan Kwai Fong where Chef Toshikatsu Aoki, second generation owner of his family namesake restaurant, showed off his skills and ingredients for 3 days only as the visiting chef.

Pop-up at PMQ

I really loved the concept of Taste Kitchen, providing venue and support for up-and-coming culinary talents local and overseas the opportunity to showcase their work as pop-up restaurants in their homebase at PMQ. And my hats off to my friends Joshua and Caleb of Twins Kitchen in making that happens. Recently I was there to check out the dishes by Chef Siam Sattayaphan of Fat Legs’ BBQ, who started as a private caterer of Thai-style grilled dishes and now taking a 2-week residence at the Taste Kitchen, serving Thai lunches and dinners.