Wing Dinner in May

I thought it was a perfect excuse to turn up at Wing to celebrate a few birthdays in the month of May, and to put icing on a cake, figuratively speaking, they put us in the private room and our friends graced us with a few fine bottles. 

Dinner with Visitor

Wing has been our go-to restaurant when we want to show our out-of-town friends some finest Chinese dishes in town - something I have shared in a newspaper interview recently. And we did just that a few weeks ago, eating with B who came back to visit from Canada. 

Wing with Friends

At our recent dinner at Wing with a few friends before Christmas, I was blown away by the number of new dishes that Chef Vicky brought to the table and the way he managed to seek improvements on some of the already excellent dishes in his repertoire.  

The Most Anticipated

The month of May has been a month of feasting with several high-end meals lined up. Among them, dinner at Wing restaurant was perhaps one that I anticipated the most. We were here twice since Chef Vicky and his team opened its door some 12 months ago, and we have witnessed quite a transformation and progress within such a short period of time, not to mention the Asia's Best 50 Restaurant mention bestowed upon them a few months ago, a rarity for a restaurant so young but a validation of how far they have gone. 

End of Year

I just love the lingering aroma from the fresh Christmas tree sitting at the corner as I was led into the private dining room at VEA one evening. The festive celebration might have been over (with the dinner happening in the last week of December) but we never needed an excuse to get together and eat (and drink) something nice, and make this a special occasion by itself. 

Quite Some Celebration

We count ourselves lucky to get a table to eat at Wing again just 6 months after our first meal at this contemporary Chinese restaurant by Chef Vicky. With its popularity and glowing reviews, trying to score a reservation has become almost like a competitive sport and a near impossible feat. 

Spreading His Wing

It took a bit of guts to open a new restaurant in this time of uncertainty; more so for someone without formal Chinese cuisine training to start one focusing on Chinese fine dining, in the city where there’s no lack of top-notch culinary talents. But that’s the hill chef Vicky intended to climb with his new venture Wing being the first step of that quest. 

Three Hour Sharp

We made the dinner reservation at VEA as soon as the local dining restriction was lifted, but that still meant we need to wait for almost a month for the earliest possible timeslot (in early March). That showed how popular the restaurant has been despite the challenging COVID situation. 

Half Year Celebration

"Name one restaurant in town that you think is truly exceptional and worth a special journey" - every now and then I have such curve-ball questions being thrown my way. While I do have not one but a few in my pocket and the list does change from time to time, Chef Vicky Cheng's VEA has always been among the top that came to mind. I have never had a bad meal there and every time I was blown away by his solid execution and innovative interpretation using traditional Chinese ingredients and cooking style. 

Another Winning Performance

I didn't realize it's been quite a while since I last visited VEA until I received a kind invitation from Chef Vicky and his team to check out their latest menu. I assured him the hiatus was unintentional - my few previous visits to the restaurant were nothing short of exceptional, and I did come to his restaurant a few months ago for one of the crossover meals he hosted (so that at least should count as half a visit).

Two-Third of a Four-Hands Menu

While I was pretty tied up the entire week to go to the special 4-hands dinner featuring Chef Vicky Cheng of VEA and Chef Julien Royer of Odette happening in late February, I was lucky that Vicky asked me to come along for a preview at his restaurant the day before the actual event. 

Four-Hands Preview

I was not able to make it to either nights of the special Vicky Cheng x Margarita Fores dinner at Chef Vicky's restaurant VEA in late October, but was glad to get a sneak preview of the menu a couple of days before it was launched. I have never tried Chef Margarita's (of Grace Park Restaurant in Manila) cooking before but I always wanted to, ever since she received her Best Female Chef award by the Asia's 50 Best Restaurant last year.

VEA-ry Impressive Dinner

There is always a constant stream of new restaurant openings throughout the year in Hong Kong, but to me, so far in 2015 there is none more exciting than this new place near Sheung Wan, which opened its door a couple of weeks ago.

This new restaurant, called VEA, is a collaboration project between Chef Vicky Cheng (formerly of Liberty Private Works) and mixologist/bartender Antonio Lai of The Quinary. I am a fan of Chef Vicky's creative cooking since his early LPW days so I am eager to find out his next move since he left the old venture early this year after over 4 years at the helm. And I came here for the dinner tasting during their soft opening period last week at the invitation of their PR.